Brussels, 14/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The EU-Canada free trade agreement and the EU-US transatlantic partnership will be central issues in discussions to be held by European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht during his visit to North America from 14 to 17 December.
In Ottawa, De Gucht will hold discussions with Canadian Trade Minister Peter Van Loan on the negotiations on an EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which was launched in 2009. Both EU and Canadian chief negotiators are expected to highlight the progress made in discussions and to state their commitment to concluding the talks by the end of next year. A further round of negotiations is scheduled for Brussels on 17-21 January. The CETA, which will see the lifting of both tariff and non-tariff barriers and increased liberalisation of trade in services, is forecast to bring gains of almost €20 billion per year.
From Ottawa, De Gucht will travel to Washington, where, on 17 December, along with US Deputy National Security Advisor Michael Froman, he will jointly chair a meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), which was set up in 2007 to guide and encourage economic convergence between the EU and the US. Commissioner De Gucht and several of his colleagues - Antonio Tajani (Industry), Neelie Kroes (Digital Agenda), Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (Science, Research and Innovation) and Algirdas Šemeta (Taxation and Customs Union) - will, along with their American partners, assess how to improve transatlantic economic, strategic and regulatory cooperation. Promoting innovation, the knowledge society and “green” jobs will be the headline topics for discussions which will deal with specific issues, such as, e-health, exchange security, chemical products and e-mobility. The latest developments in the Doha Round multilateral trade negotiations at the WTO will be discussed by De Gucht when he meets US Trade Representative Ron Kirk. (E.H./transl.rt)