Abstract
The relationship between Australia and the European Union does not seem to attract much attention. Few books had been written on it, and the general impression is that this relationship is not put forward by neither Australia nor the EU. While many scholars focus today on the importance of Asia as a trade partner and a regional opportunity, and while the world's current affairs show how close is Australia to the United States, the European Union is often relegated to the second rank. Nevertheless, the EU is still a crucial partner to Australia.
In his article, “Australia, Britain and the European Union”, David Goldsworthy distinguishes three key themes of the relationship between Australia and the EU: its extreme asymmetry, its focus on trade and the particular role of the United Kingdom. According to him, these factors contribute in one way or another to the relative weakness of the relationship. The asymmetry is easy to grasp. As Goldworthy succinctly puts it, Australia needs the EU a good deal more than the EU needs Australia. On the other hand, Australia and Europe do share common values as Western capitalistic countries as well as a common history, linguistic and cultural links… The focus on Britain, the “historical” partner of Australia, should not hide the fact that Europe had greatly evolved in the past 50 years. The “Old Continent” has reinvented itself, and its relationship with Australia should not be defined only through Britain anymore.
