LUXEMBOURG: Europe trade chief Karel De Gucht calls the EU-Canada multi-billion-dollar trade pact a "template" for Europe's negotiations with the United States
Record ID:
859245
LUXEMBOURG: Europe trade chief Karel De Gucht calls the EU-Canada multi-billion-dollar trade pact a "template" for Europe's negotiations with the United States
- Title: LUXEMBOURG: Europe trade chief Karel De Gucht calls the EU-Canada multi-billion-dollar trade pact a "template" for Europe's negotiations with the United States
- Date: 18th October 2013
- Summary: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL BUILDING FLAGS
- Embargoed: 2nd November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Luxembourg
- City:
- Country: Luxembourg
- Topics: International Relations,Economy,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVALYTFEPEIPY7PW6GLES9I1XI6
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- Story Text: Europe trade chief Karel De Gucht on Friday (October 18) called the EU-Canada multi-billion-dollar trade pact a "template" for Europe's negotiations with the United States.
De Gucht was speaking in Luxembourg just hours after EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a multi-billion-dollar trade agreement.
The EU-Canada deal -- Europe's first with a G8 country -- is set to integrate two of the world's largest economies and paves the way for Europe to clinch an even bigger deal with the United States.
European efforts to sign a free-trade accord with the United States faced a setback this month when a second round of negotiations was cancelled because of the U.S. government shutdown.
Despite plans to do a deal by the end of next year, the talks have also been overshadowed by reports the United States bugged EU offices under surveillance programmes made public by fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
Still, the Canada agreement should provide a boost for EU-U.S. negotiations. Both deals seek to go far beyond tariff cuts and to reduce transatlantic barriers to business. There are also similar sticking points, such as agriculture.
"On a number of issues we have been negotiating quite novel arrangements, for example with respect to GIs (geographical indicators), with respect to maritime transport, and so on. And of course it's to influence the discussions with the United States, and we see it as a template -- the United States won't necessarily see this as a template, but it can only be a stepping stone and influence the negotiations if it's stand-alone, if we would have kind of suspension clauses, and that we have to revisit parts of it and so on then it would not be a good template, and normally a template is within your propriety rights, if not it's not a template," Commissioner de Gucht told a news conference in Luxembourg.
Launched in May 2009, the talks had been stalled for months over quotas for Canadian beef and EU cheese.
The deal marks a breakthrough for Brussels' free-trade agenda, which had previously achieved smaller agreements with South Korea and Singapore. It is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods and services by a fifth to 25.7 billion euros ($35 billion) a year, according to the latest EU estimates.
For Canada, the deal will make it the only G8 country - and one of the only developed nations anywhere - to have preferential access to the world's two largest markets, the EU and the United States, home to a total of 800 million people.
European Commissioner Barroso said he hoped the agreement could come into effect from 2015, after EU governments, the European Parliament and the Canadian provinces give their blessing. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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