Britannia Radio

For full article text, please visit: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/on-the-brink-of-a-canada-eu-trade-deal-a-recap-4785/ On the Brink of a Canada-EU Trade Deal: A Recap By: Zachary Fillingham February 25th, 2013 Now that the Canada-EU free trade agreement (the Comprehensive Economic and Trade agreement, or CETA) is entering the final phase of negotiations, the Harper government finds itself on the brink of accomplishing one of its most important foreign policy goals: the diversification of Canada’s trade portfolio. In this article, the GPM’s Zachary Fillingham examines the remaining hurdles and what a deal would mean for both economies. Going by statements from both sides of the CETA negotiating table earlier this week, one might get the impression that a compromise is not in the cards. Karel De Gucht, the EU Trade Commissioner, went on record saying that “[Canada] needs to make additional steps and, if not, there will be no agreement.” In response, the Council of Canadians, an influential left-leaning Canadian citizen advocacy group, put out a press release urging the Harper government to walk away from it called a “flawed deal.” Despite the tough talk, it’s likely that a deal will get done sooner rather than later, and this is primarily because there are various outside factors threatening to close the window of opportunity for reaching a deal. One such factor is the emergence of the United States as another free trade dance partner for the EU. Last week, President Obama announced that the US would immediately open up a round of trade talks with the EU. Since the American market represents a far bigger economic prize than Canada, this development serves to compromise the Canadian negotiating position. The U.S. appearance so late in the game is reminiscent of Canada’s bilateral trade negotiations with South Korea, which, against the backdrop of not only a successful US-ROK agreement but an EU-ROK one as well, have in Canada’s case not been met with any success.   Impending elections in the European Parliament is another factor creating a sense of urgency in Canada-EU trade negotiations. If an agreement isn’t reached and ratified before 2014 elections, then substantial delays can be expected in the ratification process.   For full article text, please visit: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/on-the-brink-of-a-canada-eu-trade-deal-a-recap-4785/