Canada, EU reach agreement in principle on free trade deal
Posted October 18, 2013 6:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NEWS1130) – Canada and the European Union have reached an agreement in principle on a new free-trade deal that supporters say could increase Canada’s gross domestic product by $12 billion and help create 80,000 jobs.
The deal, which rivals the North American Free Trade Agreement in scope, caps four years of protracted negotiations and may take up to two more years for ratification.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Brussels to mark the occasion alongside European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso.
The finer points of the draft deal, which has not been released, still need to be ironed out.
Canadian officials released a 44-page summary today that lacks key details.
But it is known that Canada is allowing a doubling of the EU quota on cheese exports to Canada in exchange for won greater access to the European market for Canadian beef and pork producers.
