5 September 2011

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and President José Manuel Barroso emphasised the new phase of closer cooperation between Australia and the European Union (EU), during bilateral talks in Canberra on 5 September 2011.

They pledged to strengthen and position the Australia-EU partnership for the long term. To that end, they looked forward to starting negotiations in the very near future on a broad-ranging, treaty-level bilateral agreement, noting this would provide an overarching framework for joint action in areas such as foreign and security policy, development cooperation, trade and investment, climate change and environment, research, science, innovation and education.

They welcomed increased cooperation in education, training and culture, which would be reflected in the future Framework Agreement. To further deepen educational links, Australia and the EU agreed to work together to develop joint degree projects, which will bolster current work on projects to foster student mobility. These projects will complement the ongoing EU-Australia policy dialogue on education and training.

The Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations intends to call for nominations for the 2012 round of EU Australia Joint Mobility Projects in November 2011. The eighth round will focus on the development of EU-Australia joint degree projects and mobility projects for VET.