Europe

Our relationship with Europe

New Zealand has strong relationships with individual countries in Europe, and with the EU. Our connections vary from the new and friendly, to enduring relationships with countries that we share deep historical ties with. Shared experiences in both World Wars created strong connections with Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, the UK, and other countries in Europe. 

As well as the British, Italians, Germans, French and Dalmatians were among early European immigrants to New Zealand. After World War II, there was another wave of immigration from the Netherlands and Wellington became home to more than 700 Polish orphans. More Polish immigrated in the 1980s. In 2014 the UK was the second largest source of long-term migrants to New Zealand with over 13,000 arrivals. There's also a strong sporting rivalry with France and England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales on the rugby field.

Working holidays

ew Zealand has working holiday schemes with 22 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Find out about working holiday schemes(external link) 

Formal connections

Our formal connections with European countries include our work with international organisations such as the UN and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the EU.  

Read more about our relationship with the EU

Our cooperation with European partners spans a number of spheres including political and security issues, climate change and the evironment, and development in the Pacific. European countries are our most significant science and innovation partners. More than half of New Zealand’s researchers have an active collaboration with a European partner.

New Zealand also has working holiday schemes with 22 European countries.

Trade

Most of our two-way trade with Europe is with countries in the EU. The EU is the world's largest economic entity and New Zealand's third largest trading partner overall. Two-way trade was valued at $19.6b in goods and services in the year to June 2014.

Our main gods exports to this region are sheepmeat, followed by wine, fruit, butter and dairy spreads. Imports from the EU are dominated by motor vehicles, aircraft and retail medicines. We also have significant two-way trade in tourism, transport, education and commercial services. Within the EU, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy are our largest individual export destinations.

New Zealand has been exploring options for further liberalising our trade and economic relations with the EU. In a joint statement on the bilateral relationship issued on 29 Octpber 2015, New Zealand and the European Union announced their agreement to start the process for free trade agreement negotiations.

Read the joint announcement(external link)

Embassies and consular services