Time for free trade with Europe has come: Charest

Time for free trade with Europe has come: Charest

Elizabeth Thompson , Canwest News Service

Published: Tuesday, May 13

GATINEAU, Que. - The current slowdown in the U.S. economy makes it all the more important for Canada to negotiate a free trade deal with Europe, says Quebec Premier Jean Charest.

In an interview with Canwest News Service on the eve of a major speech in Ottawa to increase support for the proposal, Charest said free trade with the European Union is an idea whose time has come.

"It is an interesting project in the context of an American economy that is slowing down. It reminds everyone how dependent we are on this economy," he said. "So I am enthusiastic about it. I'm also an optimist. I think there are good chances this will go ahead."

Moreover, the deal Charest would like to see would be one of the widest-ranging deals Canada has ever signed, even further reaching than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"I hope it will go further than NAFTA, actually, because we would like to see part of the negotiation address the issue of labour mobility, which we are doing in a Quebec-France negotiation. And we would like to see it deal also with issues that are beyond trade - like cultural co-operation, universities, science and technology, environmental co-operation. What we really want is a new generation of accords that go beyond anything that we have done in the past."

Charest's speech Wednesday, opening a conference on Canada-EU free trade, is the latest step by his government to push for a deal with the European Union.

"(It's) an opportunity to demonstrate that there is broad support for this in Canada," said Charest.

The first step toward a possible Canada-EU trade deal came a year ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel signed a declaration in favour of closer co-operation. At that point they also ordered a series of studies to set the stage for possible formal negotiations.

Quebec's Economic Development Minister Raymond Bachand has been working doggedly behind the scenes to push the file forward.

In October, during a meeting to be held in Montreal, Canada and the European Union are to decide whether to embark on formal negotiations.

A deal with Europe could not only result in greater co-operation but also ease trade and travel between Canada and European countries.

While past trade deals have been largely negotiated by the federal government, Charest said this time provinces will likely play a larger role.

"One of the very important objectives is provincial support because now we are going into areas of provincial jurisdiction in these agreements," he explained. "That may not have been the case when we did the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) or NAFTA. There were some areas but not the majority of them. But in these new agreements we're going into areas of provincial jurisdiction such as labour mobility, government procurement, harmonization of some regulations.

"So the provinces have to be on side. There has to be a broad base of support for this to go ahead and be successful."

Montreal Gazette