EU signals agreement to upgrade relations with New Zealand

New Zealand has secured an agreement from a senior European Union (EU official to seek a negotiating mandate for treaty-level framework agreement to upgrade their relationship. The agreement was reached at talks between New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and EU High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton at bilateral talks in Perth, Western Australia, Thursday, said a New Zealand government statement released Friday. \"The European Union is a partner of first order importance for New Zealand,\" said McCully in the statement. \"A politically-focused framework agreement would strengthen our cooperation in areas such as human rights and counter-terrorism, environmental issues and development cooperation, education, science and innovation,\" he said. New Zealand had become a highly valued and like-minded partner to the EU over the years, said Ashton in the statement. \"We are working closely together in the Pacific and in Afghanistan on development and security. A new framework agreement would help build up our cooperation on political, global and sectoral issues, bringing us even closer together. I trust that we will be able to start negotiations in the near future,\" said Ashton. McCully and Ashton also discussed events in the Middle East and North Africa and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region, said the statement. McCully recalled his appreciation of the presence of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the Pacific Islands Forum in September, and of the high level of cooperation with the EU in the Pacific, including on development delivery. The pair agreed to continue to maximise opportunities to exchange views at a high level in the future, said the statement. McCully is in Perth to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, at which he will attend the foreign ministers\' meetings and represent Prime Minister John Key at the leaders\' meetings. With its 27 member states and 500 million people, the EU is New Zealand\'s second largest export market after Australia and two-way trade is worth about 12 billion NZ dollars (9.86 billion U.S. dollars) annually, according to New Zealand\'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.