This important book seeks to unravel a commercial puzzle. The reality is that the European Union (EU) and Australia have a strong economic relationship. The EU is the largest economic partner of Australia: the EU is Australia’s second largest trading partner and the EU is Australia’s largest investment partner.

For historical, legal and policy reasons, however, there is no trade and investment agreement between the parties. Indeed, as Professor Gonzalo Villalta Puig notes, the EU is the only major trading and investment partner with whom Australia does not have a bilateral agreement either in force or in negotiation. And this is the commercial puzzle: trade and investment between the parties is strong but there is a “policy discord and legal divide”. The precise reasons for that discord and divide are clearly articulated by the author and this is the first major contribution that the book provides. By close scrutiny of the statistical data and the relevant legal and policy documents, Professor Villalta Puig identifies the key obstacles to enhanced economic relations.

The second major contribution provided by the book appears in Chapter 9. Here, the author reviews the arguments for an agreement between Australia and the EU on trade and investment.  Chapter 9 should be required reading for the parties for its clear-eyed and measured assessment of the competing arguments. For the author, a trade and investment agreement is necessary to remove the agricultural tariffs and quarantine requirements and to harmonise the regulatory divergences that bar bilateral trade. It is further necessary to facilitate and guarantee two-way investment. With this book, Professor Villalta Puig has rendered a great and lasting service to commercial actors in Australia and the EU.

Gonzalo Villalta Puig, Economic Relations between Australia and the European Union: Law and Policy (Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law international, 2014)

Reviewed by Professor GR Walker, La Trobe University School of Law, Melbourne, Australia