Comparative Intergovernmental
Politics: CETA Negotiations
between Canada and the EU
CETA Conference: Session 1, May 5, 2014
Dr. Valerie D’Erman
University of Victoria (Victoria, BC, Canada)
Introduction and background
• Canada and EU prevalent examples of federallike governance
• Early attempts at CETA stalled due to WTO
talks and lack of provincial involvement
• Significant of this FTA agreement:
– Leverage helped EU assert norms of procedure
– Precedent for provincial “pre-commitment”
– International recognition of EU principle of
‘subsidiarity’
Negotiations
• New precedent in Canada for involvement of
sub-national governments
• One-sided debate over liberalization of
services and public procurement
• Sectoral protest within Canadian provinces
• Criticism over lack of transparency
Significance
• Success of EU in getting demands met and in
exporting norms of procedure
• Possible precedent for EU-U.S. negotiations
(TTIP)?
• Theoretical understandings of federalism
– Contrast between Canada and EU as federal-like
polities
– Lack of nation-state or elected executive in EU
– Internal market coherence much stronger in EU, and
resulting ability to negotiate
Conclusions
• PARADOX
• EU Single Market and federalism
– Visible and central goal of European integration
– Prior deregulation among member states already
achieved through intergovernmental negotiation
– Treaty-based governance over constitutionalism
– Activist role of the ECJ
• EU intergovernmental-supranational relations as
a successful model of federal governance rather
than a federation with qualifiers