Canada-Europe Deal More Important Than Ever in Tough Economic Times, Business Leaders Say

October 16, 2008

On the eve of tomorrow’s transatlantic summit in Quebec City, Canada’s business leaders reaffirmed their strong support for an ambitious and comprehensive economic partnership agreement between Canada and the 27 member states of the European Union (EU).

“We are at the dawn of an exciting new era in transatlantic relations,” said Thomas d’Aquino, Chief Executive and President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). “By encouraging deeper bilateral economic integration, a Canada-EU partnership would bolster confidence and create important new opportunities for workers, businesses and investors on both sides of the Atlantic.”

At tomorrow’s summit, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will host European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU Presidency.

The CCCE is Canada’s premier business association, composed of 150 chief executives and leading entrepreneurs from all major sectors and regions of the country.

Canada’s business community has been working closely with European business representatives to ensure a positive outcome from tomorrow’s summit. In July, Mr. d’Aquino was among a delegation of business leaders from Canada and Europe who met in Brussels with then-EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to make the case for deeper bilateral commercial relations. “Strong support from both sides of the Atlantic will be essential to a successful launch and conclusion of economic partnership negotiations,” Mr. d’Aquino said. “I will continue to work with my counterpart, Secretary General Philippe de Buck of BUSINESSEUROPE, and all other business groups interested in advancing trade, investment, technology, environmental and regulatory cooperation.”

Collectively, the 27 member states of the European Union represent the world’s largest market in terms of Gross Domestic Product, as well as the world’s largest importer and exporter and largest investor. Next to the United States, the EU is Canada’s second-largest trading partner and its second most important source of foreign direct investment. Reciprocally, the EU ranks second as a destination for Canadian foreign direct investment.

While commercial ties between Canada and Europe continue to grow – in 2007, two-way trade in goods and services totaled more than $100 billion – the economic relationship has had too few political champions and lacks an institutional framework that would spur greater activity, Mr. d’Aquino said.

At the most recent Canada-EU Summit, in Berlin in June 2007, the leaders agreed to cooperate on a study of the costs and benefits of a closer economic partnership. The study, which involved the CCCE, projected that bilateral goods and services liberalization would generate trade and investment gains worth more than $40 billion annually.

“For too long, the relationship between Canada and the EU has suffered from benign neglect,” Mr. d’Aquino said. “Too many Canadian companies have passed up important opportunities in Europe, and too many European firms have failed to recognize the significant advantages of investing in Canada — a leading performer among the G8 economies with an enviable fiscal record, abundant resources and an impressive number of globally competitive companies.”

“To achieve its full potential, the new 21st century Canada-EU partnership requires a powerful push from our respective political leaders. Tomorrow’s summit offers the ideal setting for the launch of such an initiative. At a time of global economic uncertainty, a decision to start negotiations toward a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement would send a powerful pro-growth signal to investors and businesses both within our borders and far beyond.”

Mr. d’Aquino outlined some of the priorities that should be part of such an initiative:

• the elimination of all remaining tariff and non-tariff trade barriers;

• the opening of financial and other services markets at all levels;

• broader reciprocal access to public procurement;

• measures to ensure the mobility of skilled personnel and service providers, as well as speedy progress toward mutual recognition of professional qualifications;

• stronger intellectual property protection;

• an air services liberalization accord;

• a sustainable energy and environment agreement, including measures to boost technological development and encourage closer Canada-EU cooperation in international negotiations on climate change;

• an ambitious regulatory cooperation agreement with a commitment to action in priority sectors;

• accelerated convergence in competition policy and tax administration;

• a comprehensive dispute-resolution mechanism that would be binding on state-to-state disputes.

The CCCE Chief Executive emphasized that a new Canada-EU economic partnership would be a catalyst for further multilateral liberalization under the World Trade Organization (WTO) in critical areas such as industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services and rules.

Mr. d’Aquino praised Prime Minister Harper and the provincial premiers for their leadership on the Canada-Europe file. “In particular, Quebec Premier Jean Charest is to be congratulated for his energetic pursuit of deeper trade, investment and economic cooperation between Canada and the European Union,” he said.

Founded in 1976, the CCCE is Canada’s private sector leader in the promotion of international trade and investment liberalization. The Council was instrumental in the development and promotion of both the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement and the subsequent North American Free Trade Agreement. More recently, the CCCE has advocated for multilateral trade liberalization as well as for bilateral and regional economic agreements with Canada’s major and emerging trading partners.

CCCE members lead companies that collectively administer $3.5 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of more than $800 billion, and are responsible for the vast majority of Canada’s exports, investment, research and development, and training. In addition to Mr. d’Aquino, the members of the CCCE’s Executive Committee are: Chair, Gordon M. Nixon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Bank of Canada; Honorary Chair Richard L. George, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suncor Energy Inc.; and Vice Chairs Dominic D’Alessandro, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Jacques Lamarre, Hartley T. Richardson and Annette Verschuren, the chief executives respectively of Manulife Financial, Power Corporation of Canada, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., James Richardson & Sons, Limited and The Home Depot Canada and Asia.