Experts Urge Canada to Solidify EU Trade Gains
Canadian policy experts are calling on the government to convert symbolic EU summit agreements into binding legal frameworks to protect trade interests.
Policy experts are urging the Canadian government to solidify legal frameworks and trade gains following an October 30 summit in Montreal between Canada and the European Union. While officials described the meeting as a historic partnership, academics testifying before the House foreign-affairs committee argue that concrete outcomes remained limited.
Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, led the summit. However, Professor Mark Manger of the University of Toronto testified that many of the resulting agreements merely mirror existing arrangements between the EU and Mexico. Manger suggested a specific trade-off that would allow European mobile networks into Canada in exchange for the removal of European restrictions on Canadian food imports.
Professor Achim Hurrelmann of Carleton University advised the government in Ottawa to prioritize encoding these wins into European law and restructuring the EU trade deal to maximize economic benefits. Hurrelmann warned that symbolic goals, such as Canada becoming an EU associate member, are easily discarded as right-wing movements gain influence across Europe.
