Brussels, 30/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - Another ministerial meeting next week between Commissioner Karel De Gucht and his Canadian counterpart, Ed Fast, is expected to help unblock the final phase of EU/Canada free-trade negotiations, which have been stalling on agricultural issues.
Following a short trip to Washington on 5 February, where he will finalise the preparatory work for launching free-trade negotiations with the US (see EUROPE 10774), De Gucht will be in Ottawa on 6-7 February to meet Fast, where they will proceed to the final discussions needed to conclude talks on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA). These negotiations were launched in 2009 and have remained in their final phase since autumn last year. The agreement had been promised for the end of 2012 but was postponed at the beginning of the year, due to the lack of a compromise on the most difficult chapters: tariff quotas on sensitive agricultural products, pharmaceutical patents and geographical indications, access to public markets and resources, investment, services and the package on cars (tariffs and rules of origin).
The agricultural chapter has been proving the most difficult and has involved differences of opinion on market access questions. While Canada is pushing for an ambitious demand on tariff quotas for beef and pork exports, the EU wants wider opening up of the Canadian market for its milk products, particularly cheese. The EU also wants the geographical indications for its agri-foods products to be protected.
The two sides will also have to reach an agreement on the automobile chapter, where they differ on the question of rules of origin and local content. The intellectual property chapter is also another stumbling block and the EU would like an additional two years patent protection for its brand medicines in Canada. The questions of access to resources and energy, as well as access to public markets have also proved difficult to solve, given that restrictions are imposed at a province-wide level in Canada.
The Canadian Fast warned last week that Canada would not be rushing into signing an agreement with the EU that did not serve the interests of Canadians. Speaking at the Davos forum last weekend, he also insisted that the quality and substance of the agreement is more important than when the agreement comes into being.
CETA seeks to boost bilateral trade by 20% through promoting investment flows between the two parties, which is already a significant amount. Bilateral trade stood at more than €52.5 billion for goods in 2011 and more than €20 billion for services in 2010. EU investment stocks in Canada reached €197.4 billion in 2010, while Canadian investment in the EU reached €143.1 billion over the same period. (EH/transl.fl)