The EU and Canada deepen economic relations
This morning’s WSJ notes an agreement between Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper and French President (and rotating EU
President) Nicolas Sarkozy to expand trade relations:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Nicolas
Sarkozy of France signed an agreement Friday to begin negotiations
for a free trade pact between Canada and the European Union. A
Canada-EU study released last week outlines the joint economic
benefits of such a partnership, with two-way trade estimated to
increase 22.9% by 2014.The proposed partnership goes a lot further than Nafta.
In addition to allowing free trade in goods and services, it would
harmonize regulations, open up the air-travel market, and boost
opportunities in government-procurement. Most important, it
would free the labor market so that skilled workers could move
easily back and forth across the Atlantic.
Of course, Barack Obama threatened to unilaterally renegotiate
NAFTA, so no wonder the Canadians are looking to Europe again for
expanded trade opportunities. Thus, Europe.
From CTV, a Canadian news outlet:
Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon told Mike Duffy
Live that Canada “has to seek out new markets” in these times of
economic uncertainty.