Brussels, 06/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The stumbling block that is agriculture, which has brought negotiations to an impasse, is not likely to be overcome before the Canadian prime minister comes to Europe in mid-June.
Canadian media (informed by a source close to the matter) doubt that Brussels and Ottawa can tie up a compromise - bringing an end to the negotiations for a comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada - before Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits Europe to take part in the G8 summit on 17-18 June at Lough Erne (Northern Ireland) in the United Kingdom. The negotiations were started in 2007.
The talks are still under way and the Canadian side is “concerned” at the pressure exerted by the European negotiators, who want “to use Harper's trip to force them [the Canadians] into a deal that isn't favourable” to Canada, states Canwest News Service. Canadian media say that the office of the EU delegation in Ottawa refuses to comment on this information.
The agricultural stumbling block will reportedly not be removed - with the parties still coming up against access to the agricultural market, the issue of export quotas for European cheese to Canada, and the opening of the European beef and pork market. Access to Canadian public procurement is also reportedly a blockage to the negotiations. At the beginning of April, Canadian press announced a compromise on the automobile chapter. (EH/transl.fl)