The European Community (EC) is sometimes held up as a political model that could be adapted to Canadian needs and conditions, for the purpose of restructuring or replacing the existing federal system. This paper comments on the idea of borrowing certain features of EC institutions and practices of government, and incorporating them into a re-made system of government for Canada.
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 end of the Cold War and the advent of the European Union (EU) as an emerging political actor have fundamentally changed Canada's approach to its relations with Western Europe. Trans-Atlantic Partners traces the Canadian Government's reassessment of its traditional Atlanticist foreign policy orientation by looking at the rising importance of the EU as a key "pillar" in Canada's post-World War II trans-Atlantic relations.
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.
This essay is based on part of a project which examines issues of Canadiantrade and foreign direct investment with special emphasis on theCanada-European Economic Community relationship.
This document provides some background information on the European Community (EC), including its origins and main decision making institutions. It summarizes Èurope 1992' and Èconomic and Monetary Union' plans to integrate the EC economically. Finally, it compares the Canadian government's proposals for economic union with the process of European integration.
