Canada-EU deal secured

Approval needed from provinces, European states

BRUSSELS— Prime Minister Stephen Harper has spent more than four years battling for a Canada-EU freetrade deal he is expected to secure on Friday, but he could face another lengthy and difficult fight getting it approved by the European Union and some provinces.

Harper and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso are scheduled to hold a ceremony Friday in Brussels on concluding negotiations on a Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that the two sides have been negotiating since 2009.

But before any free-trade deal becomes law, the EU parliament and member states must ratify it, provincial governments in Canada will have their say, and legislation would need to be passed in the House of Commons.

The entire process on both sides of the Atlantic will take at least several months and could easily be more than a year.

EU parliamentary elections in 2014 could prove another hurdle.

The federal government and its chief CETA negotiator will hold a briefing Friday with reporters in Brussels on details of the agreement, before a ceremony with Harper and Barroso.

The prime minister, who initially promised negotiations would be completed by the end of 2012, has been under enormous pressure to finalize an agreement before the EU focuses on free-trade talks launched this summer with the United States.

The CETA would give Canadian companies preferential access to an EU market of 500 million consumers in 28 member states. The government says an agreement will let domestic companies increase their exports to the EU, expand their businesses and create new jobs.

For consumers, the deal would eliminate tariffs on most goods from the EU, which is expected to reduce prices on a wide range of consumer items, including clothes, household products and automobiles.

But cities and provinces have raised concerns.

On Thursday, provincial representatives treated news of the deal cautiously. Several said they would not comment until more details were made public.

But Alberta, the country’s top producer of beef, seemed pleased.

Alberta has been fighting for greater access to Europe for beef, and for a larger share of the quota to be fresh meat instead of frozen. Quebec has worried about greater EU access to its supply-managed cheese and dairy industry; and Newfoundland and Labrador has demanded that fish caught in the province be processed there.

Other key issues included intellectual-property protection on pharmaceuticals — which provinces worry could drive up their drug costs — as well as access to the European market for Canadian automobile and parts manufacturers, government procurement on infrastructure projects, and financial services and investment protection (including when investors can sue governments).

“Alberta is a strong supporter of opening markets and we have been working closely with the federal government during the CETA negotiations,” Alberta Intergovernmental Relations Minister Cal Dallas said in a statement.

“An ambitious and comprehensive agreement will benefit Alberta, Canada and the EU, and we are hopeful that the negotiations can be brought to a successful conclusion soon.”

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said “the European market for us, if put together all of the European Union, it only ranks third, all of those countries only rank third in terms of our export market behind the United States and China. Actually, if you put the ASEAN (Asian) regions together, those countries, it’s almost a tie.

“So it tells you that Europe’s important, we want better trade with Europe, freer trader with Europe, but we will continue to also be focused on Asia, not just because of agriculture, but that’s a strong driver.”

Quebec, the country’s biggest pigfarming province, has been supportive of a free trade deal with Europe, provided it benefits the province. Premier Pauline Marois’s government confirmed it had received details of the new trade agreement.

“Obviously we can’t react before the official announcement,” said Melanie Malenfant, a spokeswoman for Quebec Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau.