WEBINAR: Inside the Australia-EU FTA with Australia's Chief Negotiator - Cathy Raper

DATE: 19 May 2026
TIME: 3.00-4.00pm

ACITI speaks to Cathy Raper, First Assistant Secretary and Australia's Chief Negotiator for the Australia–European Union Free Trade Agreement, about the negotiation and outcomes of the Agreement.

With negotiations launched in June 2018, and concluding on 24 March 2026 the process spanned nearly eight years and involved a range of complex issues. Talks were delayed by diplomatic tensions following Australia's cancellation of the French submarine contract, stalled in late 2023 over agricultural market access requests, and were renewed in 2025 in the context of the Trump Administration's imposition of tariffs across the globe.

With a range of new issues included in the agreement, the webinar provides an opportunity to ask questions and delve into what the FTA will deliver for Australia and Australian business.

Cathy Raper is First Assistant Secretary of the Office of Global Trade Negotiations and Australia’s Chief Negotiator for the Australia-EU FTA. Cathy has served as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and TradCOVID-19 Coordination Unit. Prior to that she was First Assistant Secretary, Europe and Latin America Division. She has previously served overseas as Head of Post in Taipei, and earlier in Washington, The Hague and at the Australian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization, Geneva.