trueviking Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 i wonder if this would help canadian soccer players secure work permits in european leagues? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080918.wtrade18/BNStory/International/home Canada-EU trade proposal rivals scope of NAFTA DOUG SAUNDERS From Thursday's Globe and Mail E-mail Doug Saunders | Read Bio | Latest Columns September 18, 2008 at 2:00 AM EDT LONDON — Canadian and European officials say they plan to begin negotiating a massive agreement to integrate Canada's economy with the 27 nations of the European Union, with preliminary talks to be launched at an Oct. 17 summit in Montreal three days after the federal election. Trade Minister Michael Fortier and his staff have been engaged for the past two months with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the representatives of European governments in an effort to begin what a senior EU official involved in the talks described in an interview yesterday as “deep economic integration negotiations.” If successful, Canada would be the first developed nation to have open trade relations with the EU, which has completely open borders between its members but imposes steep trade and investment barriers on outsiders. The proposed pact would far exceed the scope of older agreements such as NAFTA by encompassing not only unrestricted trade in goods, services and investment and the removal of tariffs, but also the free movement of skilled people and an open market in government services and procurement – which would require that Canadian governments allow European companies to bid as equals on government contracts for both goods and services and end the favouring of local or national providers of public-sector services. Previous efforts to reach a trade pact with Europe have failed, most recently in 2005 with the collapse of the proposed Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement. But with the breakdown of World Trade Organization talks in July, European officials have become much more interested in opening a bilateral trade and economic integration deal with North America. A pact with the United States would be politically impossible in Europe, senior European Commission officials said. A newly completed study of the proposed deal, which European officials said Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided not to release until after the election, concludes that the pact would increase bilateral trade and investment by at least $40-billion a year, mainly in trade in services. Ottawa officials say they have overcome what they see as their biggest hurdle: the resistance of provincial governments to an agreement that would force them to allow European corporations to provide their government services, if their bids are the lowest. Although Ottawa's current list of foreign-policy priorities does not include European issues, European and Canadian officials say Mr. Harper has been heavily engaged with the proposed trade pact. The two governments have completed a detailed study of the proposed agreement that will be unveiled shortly after the election, should the Conservatives win. Both Ottawa and Brussels have had staff work on a draft text for a deal they had hoped would be introduced at a Canada-EU summit, to be attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Mr. Harper in Montreal on Oct. 17. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and Mr. Sarkozy has said that he hopes to make economic integration with Canada one of his accomplishments. Last Wednesday, a top Ottawa trade official wrote to Mr. Mandelson to propose “the launch of comprehensive negotiations toward a closer economic partnership at the Canada-EU Leaders Summit, to be held on October 17,” and stressed that all 13 provincial and territorial governments had agreed to the proposed pact at a July 18 meeting in Quebec City. Because of the election, Mr. Harper appears to have decided not to unveil a full text of the proposed agreement, but instead to use the summit to inaugurate the trade talks with the launch of a “scoping exercise” that will quickly set the goals of the pact and lead to formal “comprehensive trade and investment negotiations” to begin in “early 2009,” according to communications between senior Canadian and European officials examined by The Globe and Mail. Proponents, including all of Canada's major business-lobby organizations, are in favour of the deal because it would open Canadian exporters to a market of 500 million people and allow the world's largest pool of investment capital into Canadian companies without restrictions. Because Canada's fractious provinces have killed attempts at a trade pact in the past, Europe is demanding that Canada accept a more far-reaching agreement than Canada and Europe had attempted before, in an effort to win a stronger commitment, EU officials said. Major “deal-breaker” conditions, officials said, include full agreement by all 10 provinces, especially on the issue of European companies providing government services, and what are known as “geographic indicators,” which forbid products such as champagne and feta cheese to be produced under those names outside their nations of origin. Controversially for Canada, this may soon be extended so only English producers can use the name cheddar on their cheese. However, both sides agree that there is far more political will to negotiate a major deal, on both sides than there ever has been. “I am far more optimistic this time than I've ever been in the past. … I feel very confident that we will be able to launch something on Oct. 17 that will give us a better chance than we've ever had before to get a full deal in place,” said Roy MacLaren, head of the Canada-Europe Round Table, a pro-trade business organization that has been heavily involved in the negotiations. As a trade minister in the Jean Chrétien government and later as a diplomat, Mr. MacLaren was involved in several previous attempts at a Canada-EU pact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibby Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 WOW... that's pretty comprehensive. In fact it feels like being half in the EU. The product name restrictions/smaller movement of labour component/bidding on gov. contracts as equals BTW i'm pretty sure from the scope that yes that means no work permits. edit: now actually that i think about it now i don't know. In the EU it's free movement of labour as opposed to free movement of "skilled" labour. I'm sure the europeans consider footballers as skilled though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 That sounds really good. I hope it goes through. It's about time we stopped depending on 1 main trading partner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by SilverSamurai That sounds really good. I hope it goes through. It's about time we stopped depending on 1 main trading partner... Who are kind of unstable lately.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by SilverSamurai That sounds really good. I hope it goes through. It's about time we stopped depending on 1 main trading partner... No kiddin', anything to diversify our trading options is a good thing. And on the soccer front, hopefully this help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devioustrevor Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 It's not only about allowing Canadian Soccer players opportunities. It also makes it easier for Junior Hockey players to come here. More importantly the easy movement of skilled labour could go a long way to addressing the massive shortfall of skilled labour Canada is going to be facing in the coming decades. But having free access to the European markets would be absolutely massive for Canada, Europe would be just as happy as the U.S. to consume our abundance of raw resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by devioustrevor It's not only about allowing Canadian Soccer players opportunities. It also makes it easier for Junior Hockey players to come here. More importantly the easy movement of skilled labour could go a long way to addressing the massive shortfall of skilled labour Canada is going to be facing in the coming decades. But having free access to the European markets would be absolutely massive for Canada, Europe would be just as happy as the U.S. to consume our abundance of raw resources. Skilled labour isn't the only thing that needs to be addressed, but also allowing skilled foreign workers able to work here in their field but somehow only end up being janitors or cabbies. Anyways... I hope this agreement goes through, only IF we keep control of our natural resources. Somethings should not be for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibby Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by SilverSamurai Skilled labour isn't the only thing that needs to be addressed, but also allowing skilled foreign workers able to work here in their field but somehow only end up being janitors or cabbies. Anyways... I hope this agreement goes through, only IF we keep control of our natural resources. Somethings should not be for sale. Ya I'd really like it if we could poach a ton of European doctors, nurses who get paid less in europe. That being that they are ACTUALLY allowed to practice medicine here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 This is very good news for all those soccer players and coaches that want to move freely between Canada and Europe. I know of many cases of young canadian players that were not able to get into the european football market because of work permits, specially in the semi-pro leagues. I'm sure this (if it goes through) will open up alot of doors for our footballers and coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Kibby Ya I'd really like it if we could poach a ton of European doctors, nurses who get paid less in europe. That being that they are ACTUALLY allowed to practice medicine here. Well their's an apparent doctor shortage (esp. in Ontario) but we have them driving cabs instead... I suppose if you needed a doc inside a cab, you'd be somewhat safe... [8)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dare431 Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 I think this could be good news all around. This would allow Canadian players to develop in Europe without requiring EU citizenship. Could this potentially lead to more European club-based players choosing Canada instead of their adopted nation? It's almost enough to motivate me to become match fit again and try to play for a Ryman League club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aljarov Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Hmmmm, lot to digest. If this actually happened I might eventually get aroudn to moving to Canada after 10 years of talking about it. Would be a lot easier if I could just walk in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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