In late-December, Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson wrote, “Government sources predict that a signed Canada-European Union Trade Agreement will be in place by February or March.”
Ibbitson notes, “Some of the terms of that agreement will be contentious. EU businesses will have greater access to Canadian government-procurement contracts, for example. And dairy quotas for European imports will probably be raised, in exchange for increased quotas for Canadian pork exports.”
Significantly, he writes, “Provincial governments are reportedly onside.”
Ibbitson does suggest there is opposition in Europe though when he writes, “Negotiators also insist that the deal will clear all 27 European parliaments without difficulty. We’ll see.”
Postmedia News adds, “(In a CTV interview broadcast on December 26, Prime Minister Stephen Harper) said trade talks with Europe are going well and his cabinet will be making decisions on the issue in the ‘very near future’.”
