France and Australia commit to work on bilateral cooperation and Australia-EU free trade agreement

French President, Emmanuel Macron, visited Sydney to discuss regional and bilateral co-operation on issues including trade, to climate change and security with Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. They jointly issued a common ‘vision statement on the Australian-French relationship’, expressing shared economic values and commitment to work together to resist protectionism, uphold the rules of the global trading system and support sustainable development.  They also agreed to work toward the swift launch of the negotiation of an Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement, which is currently pending, awaiting the completion of some EU internal procedures.