This workshop will focus on opportunities and possibilities afforded by the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement that has recently been agreed. The workshop will have two main components. The first part will explore business opportunities with a particular focus on the interaction of Canadian businesses with Italian and Spanish partners. The goal will be to initiate a process that will nurture such partnerships and that will provide a forum for discussion of best practices in maximizing opportunities offered by the trade agreement.
The second aspect of the workshop will place the CETA in a comparative context and will explore potential broader macro-economic benefits of the agreement. This will also consider impacts on the labour market and youth unemployment issues in Spain and Italy. We will examine the role of trade agreements, more generally, in Canadian and EU policy, experience with previously agreed trade agreements (e.g., NAFTA, EU-Korea), and the potential impact of EU trade agreements or negotiations with the US (TTIP) and Asian partners on Canada.