BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The European Union and Australia, whose plans for a sweeping free trade deal have been put on hold since 2023 due to disputes over certain sectors such as farming, have made progress on resolving areas of disagreement, they said on Friday.

"Good progress was achieved in narrowing gaps on a small number of outstanding matters. The principals will now report back to their leaders," said European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and Australian Trade Commissioner Don Farrell in a joint statement.

A previous attempt to reach a trade deal failed in 2023, with Australia wanting greater access for lamb and beef exports to Europe, while the EU wants greater access to Australian critical minerals and lower tariffs on manufactured goods.

The EU wants to compete more strongly with the U.S. and China, and last month struck a trade deal with India.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta. Editing by Mark Potter)

((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com;))