London-based Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders writes that, “last Wednesday, the seal ban became the main issue at the Canada-EU summit in Prague, making the free-trade talks a secondary matter. After all the planning and diplomacy, Europeans and their leaders were left with two images of Canada: a man clubbing a seal, and a prime minister missing a photo opportunity because, the European media kept reporting, he was on the toilet. Absolutely nothing else registered:”
“The free-trade talks were successfully launched, largely as a result of aggressive efforts by Quebec Premier Jean Charest, but the lack of enthusiasm among Europe’s national leaders was palpable.”
“French President Nicolas Sarkozy …seems to have cooled, turning his attentions to Britain and Germany and appearing to disengage from Canada. ‘Canada’s mistake,’ says a senior EU official involved with the trade talks, ‘was that they didn’t play the diplomatic game – they didn’t do the Henry Kissinger stuff and make a big, visible sacrifice so they could get something in exchange. They just wanted to win everything.’”
Saunders continues on to write about various mis-steps by Harper – the African withdrawal, the military bullying, and the sabre rattling – that have cooled Canada-EU relations.
We will be studying these issues to see if opportunities present themselves to strengthen our work against the Canada-European Union economic partnership agreement.
Saunders’ full column can be read at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090515.doug16/BNStory/Front
