Canada-European Union trade negotiations remain deadlocked on a few key issues, including beef and pork access to the EU.
The stalemate thwarts a hope that a deal could be announced this week.
Prime minister Stephen Harper spent much of the past week in Europe for meetings with leaders of the G8 industrialized countries. After more than three weeks of intense negotiations in Brussels, Canadian officials had hoped a deal could be announced.
It did not happen.
Harper told a news conference yesterday that Canada still expects a deal but only one that helps the Canadian economy.
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“There is a potential for major benefits through a deal with the European Union, but we have to have an agreement that really does benefit Canada,” he said.
“We will stay at the table until we get a deal that benefits Canada.”
British prime minister David Cameron told a news conference at the end of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland yesterday that a Canada-EU trade deal is in sight.
“I’m sure it will get done,” he said.
“There are just a couple of remaining issues and one more go and it will be done.”
However, those “couple of remaining issues” include sensitive political compromises, including a Canadian demand for more beef and pork access to the EU and the European demand for more cheese and dairy product access to Canada.
While Cameron sounded an optimistic tone, EU trade spokesperson John Clancy was pointing a finger at Canada for the delay.
“We are very close to an agreement,” he said.
“The EU has shown pragmatism and flexibility and is ready to take the last steps to achieve a political breakthrough in the negotiations. We have been awaiting a similar message from Canada since the trade and agriculture ministers met in Ottawa in early February.”
Complicating the picture is the fact that the EU begins free trade talks with the United States soon.
Some trade analysts have suggested that EU attention will focus on the U.S. negotiations at the expense of Canada.
Meanwhile, the Council of Canadians, which includes the National Farmers Union, said the lack of an agreement is good news for Canada. It opposes a deal, insisting it will be bad for Canada.
The chief Canadian negotiator is Steve Verheul, former chief Canadian agricultural negotiator at the World Trade Organization.
The negotiators are expected to take a break this week after weeks of intense talks in Brussels.
What was meant to be a two-year negotiation now has been ongoing for four years.
