Canada And The European Union

Given the legal, political, economic and social similarities that exist, comparisons between the European Union (EU) and Canada can prove instructive. This volume introduces the rationale for comparing Canada and the EU and reviews the political initiatives that have been undertaken to forge links between the two. Taking the political and economic structure used by the EU, it compares this structure to the Canadian model, at both the federal/supranational level and the local government level. Using various disciplinary approaches and case studies, specific policy areas are used to illustrate these comparisons, and several of the papers in the collection extend these comparisons to the NAFTA level. A highly useful reference tool, Crossing the Atlantic will intrigue and inform an interdisciplinary and inter-regional studies audience.

This paper argues that there are significant potential economic gains to be obtained from an EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement. The evolution of trade between the US and Canada following the signing of CUSFTA in 1989 offers a good illustration of how trade might increase after an EU-Canada FTA, as the patterns and levels of protection between the EU and Canada today are very similar to the protection that existed between the US and Canada in 1989. Although many empirical studies fail to find support for 'trade diversion' created by NAFTA (or CUSFTA) at the expense of the EU and to the benefit of the US, there is some evidence of trade diversion when detailed regional trade is examined. If indeed trade diversion has occurred due to NAFTA, then an EU-Canada FTA is welfare-enhancing for Canada. For the EU, a potential FTA can level the playing field with the US and increase the competitiveness of European firms in the Canadian market.

The study concentrates on changes in Canada's approach to European integration after the watershed of 1989, examining the 1990 EC-Canada Transatlantic Declaration and the emergence of a Single European Market in 1993. Finally, it outlines the choices available to Canadian policy makers in the late 1990s as they sought to widen relations with the EU by proposing a trans-Atlantic free trade zone. This book details important stages in the evolution of Canada-EU economic, political, and security relations, a bilateral relationship that is destined to grow closer in the years ahead.

The Great Recession and the turn towards all forms of protectionism stress the relevance of international trade policy. With the global economy undergoing deep structural changes, the negotiations between Canada and the EU on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) present a real-time experiment that sheds light on the direction that the relationships between two economic units of the G8 will take. For Canada, an agreement with the EU would end its current dependency on the US; for the EU, an agreement with Canada would be a first with a G8-economy and indicate how its new trade strategy ‘Global Europe’ will look like. This book is the first to simultaneously analyze the undercurrents of this project and introduce the main topics at hand. CETA is much more than a simple free trade agreement, its breadth covers regulatory aspects in goods, services, and finance; the opening of public procurement markets; attitudes and policies of Canadian provinces towards liberalization; climate policies and international leadership claims of the EU in comparison to Canadian policy attempts; the challenges of the Euro project and the reform efforts; and the challenges of the Euro as a international reserve currency. CETA is a challenging project that will kick-start enormous changes in trade policy-making as well as in market openness in Canada. It will mark the EU’s efforts to re-make the Atlantic Economy. This book provides deep insights into the ambiguity of the project and addresses the implications of a rapidly changing global economy for trade policy. Offering analysis of the financial industry, banking, trade policy, climate change strategy, and the Euro exchange rate, this book should be of interest to students and policy-makers alike.

"Divided into three parts, European Union Governance and Policy Making examines the political system of the EU (history, theories, institutions, etc.), specific policies, and some of the challenges that the EU currently faces. Geared towards students who are learning about the EU in Canadian classrooms, the text integrates Canadian content and examples to demonstrate how Canada compares to the EU. The introduction introduces three core themes for the study of the EU, and each chapter returns to these, creating structure and coherence."--

What makes Canada a different kind of society from the United States? In this book-length essay, Philip Resnick argues that, in more ways than one, Canada has been profoundly marked by its European origins. This is most apparent where the European historical underpinnings both of English-speaking and French-speaking Canada are concerned, but it is no less true when one examines Canada's multiple national identities, robust social programs, increasingly secular values and multilateral outlook on international affairs today. As the war in Iraq brought home, and the 2004 federal election reinforced, Canada is a more European-type society than is our neighbour to the south. This does not come without its own complexities or problems. On the contrary, there are significant parallels between the ambiguous versions of national identity that one finds in Canada and what one finds on the European continent. There are parallels, too, between the elements of self-doubt that characterize Canadians overall when they think about their country and those of Europeans caught up in their own, often fractious, attempts to forge a more integrated Europe. The author argues that Canada needs Europe as an effective counter-weight to the influence of the United States. He further argues that, at a deeper existential level, Canadians need relevant European references to better understand what makes them the kind of North Americans that they are.