BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY AND COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA: BRIEF OVERVIEW
BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY AND COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA: BRIEF OVERVIEW
Scientific article
Toropchin G.V.
Kemerovo State University, PhD student
Annotation
The goal of article is the analysis of different aspects in bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Commonwealth of Australia.
Key wards: international relations, bilateral relations, Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, Germany, Federal Republic of Germany.
This year, in 2012, Federal Republic of Germany and the Commonwealth of Australia celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations [1]. This event was marked by Kevin Rudd’s official visit to Berlin, where Rudd (Australian former PM who was Minister for Foreign Affairs at the beginning of 2012) met his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, on 25 January. Both states “stand today as two countries with shared values, shared global interests and strong links between our [Australian and German – G.T.] people”, as Rudd claimed [Ibid.]
The principle of multilateralism has been one of the major guidelines of Australian foreign policy since the second half of 20th century. However, it doesn’t mean that Australian elites abandoned bilateral relations as one of the ways to expand international ties. It goes without saying that the European vector of the external policy of Australia forms one of the major directions of the international relations involving the country [2. P. 252-253]. Germany, being a key power in Europe, is one of the most important partners for Australia in this part of the world (along with Great Britain).
Although some trace first Australian-German connections back to 19th century, the official establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries dates back to 1952: post-war West Germany, still being in the process of recovery and participating actively in the creation of the first European economic structures, sought international recognition. However, full-scale relations between the countries were developed only after the reunification of Germany in 1990. At the present time, Germany has its Embassy in the capital of Australia, whereas the Embassy of Australia in Germany is situated in Berlin (besides, there is Consulate-General of Australia in Frankfurt).
There is a number of fields in which Australia and Germany collaborate most actively. To be precise, those are: economics and trade; international law and international organizations; culture, science and technology.
After scrutinizing bilateral trade ties, one can observe that the trade proportions are significantly imbalanced: approx. 80% of trade is in favour of the Federal Republic of Germany [3]. Germany managed to make it to top ten trading partners of Australia over the last several years. Currently, Germany is 11th in the list of Australia’s commercial partners, with total merchandise trade estimated at more than A$13B. It is debatable whether Australia can be considered as one of the vital partners for Australia. Major items exported from Australia are raw products such as ores (incl. gold), coal, oil seeds; at the same time, Australia imports machinery and high-technology goods from Germany [4]. Along with national and international legislation, economic and business links are regulated by the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, founded in 1977 [5].
As for the co-operation in the sphere of international law, countries have signed certain bilateral agreements for that matter. One of such crucial treaties (social security agreement) was signed in 2000; according to this document, people that have worked both in Australia and Germany, can enjoy special preferences. Other similar legal arrangements deal with a vast variety of problems: taxation, extradition, banking arrangements. The countries also discuss shared matters of interest both within institutions of the UN and in the summits of multilateral forums (the best example in this regard is G20 which turned out a productive platform in terms of environmental topicality discussions in particular).
Finally, the issue of cultural and scientific connections is also not to be neglected in German-Australian dialogue. It is also to some extent reflected in the agreements between the countries: for instance, Cultural Agreement between Germany and Australia signed in November 1997 that came into force on 15 June 2000. Academic exchange is, perhaps, one of the most successful directions of coworking in this area, another is tourism.
In conclusion, it is necessary to mention that the prospects of further evolution of Germany-Australia international relations are deeply connected with the fact that both countries have common ground when it comes to priority values and basic principles of policy. Such prevailing international trends as globalization and regionalization preconditioned strengthening ties between Germany and Australia, as important actors in Europe and Asia-Pacific respectively.
Referecnes
1. Australia and Germany celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations in 2012 // Australian Government. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. URL: http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/germany/australia-germany-relations.html (access date: 11/30/2012)
2. Торопчин Г.В. Европейское направление внешней политики Австралийского Союза на современном этапе / Г.В. Торопчин // Гуманитарные науки и образование в XXI веке. Социокультурные и политические трансформации на европейском и евразийском пространстве в новое и новейшее время. Кемерово, 2012. С. 251-255.
3. Beziehungen zu Deutschland // Auswärtiges Amt. URL: http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Aussenpolitik/Laender/Laenderinfos/Australien/Bilateral_node.html (access date: 11/30/2012)
4. Germany. Fact Sheet // Australian Government. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. URL: http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/fs/fgmy.pdf (access date: 11/30/2012) 5 AHK Australien – erster Ansprechpartner vor Ort // Deutsch-Australische Industrie- und Handelskammer. URL: http://australien.ahk.de/ueber-uns/ (access date: 11/30/2012)