Thread: Towards a Canada-EU Economic Trade Agreement and Beyond

Towards a Canada-EU Economic Trade Agreement and Beyond

By Dana Gabriel http://www.borderfirereport.net/dana-ga ... eyond.html

After dodging a bullet and almost being defeated late last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government recently tabled their much anticipated budget. It included a massive $85 billion deficit over the next five years. The Liberals have proposed an amendment that would hold the government more accountable, in order to ensure that budgetary funds are being used accordingly. If expectations are not met, the Liberals have said that they are prepared to bring down the Harper minority government. It came out during the election in October of 2008, that the Conservatives were set to begin negotiations with the European Union (EU) on deeper economic integration. In spite of the current global economic uncertainty, Canadian and EU officials are busy laying the groundwork for an economic and trade agreement, and negotiations could begin in the next several months.

It is expected that an economic and trade agreement with the EU could be massive and far-reaching, dwarfing NAFTA in size and scope. It would not be limited to the exchange of goods and services and could include labour mobility, as well as harmonization of standards and regulations.

On a North American front, harmonization of regulations is being achieved through the Security and Prosperity Partnership. A principal demand by the EU is that Canadian provinces open up their procurement programs to European bidders. This would allow EU companies to bid as equals on government contracts. There has been some resistance from the provinces on this issue, which could put any such agreement in jeopardy. Stockwell Day, Canadian Minister of International Trade, stated that he is confident that the provinces will commit to such demands. The EU is also looking for a bilateral securities agreement. Canada currently does not have a national securities regulator, but one is expected to be in place before any negotiations would be completed. Many believe that Canada has been too fixated with U.S. and even Mexico initiatives, and as a result, not enough attention has been spent trying to partner up with the EU.

The annual Canada-EU Summit is set for May and will be held in Prague, Czech Republic and at that time formal negotiations for an economic and trade agreement could begin. It is also expected that the recently concluded Canada-EU Air Transport Agreement will be signed at the summit. It is set to be implemented in different phases and does not immediately include further raising foreign ownership limits in the airline sector. At a later time this agreement could even allow Canadian and European carriers to fly domestic routes in each other’s markets. It is believed that this deal is meant to put further pressure on the U.S. to agree on upgrading its own open skies agreement with the EU. A Canada-EU economic and trade agreement that goes beyond NAFTA, could later include the U.S. and Mexico. This is a scenario whereby the NAFTA model could be expanded and extended across the Atlantic. The current economic turmoil has seen a rise in European protectionism, but there still appears to be a desire by some, to further push trade liberalization initiatives.

In April of 2007, the U.S.-EU reached a deal on a new Transatlantic Economic Partnership. They agreed to work towards eliminating non-tariff barriers and increasing trade and investment, thus further laying the foundation for a U.S.-EU single market. In an effort to help streamline harmonization on regulations, the Transatlantic Economic Council was also created at the same time. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a known globalist and one-worlder, has been calling for more trade liberalization in the form of a transatlantic free trade zone. It is important to understand that economic integration was the first step in the creation of the EU. With a new American president, there is a move to further strengthen transatlantic ties.

Many believe that Barack Obama’s presidency is a turning point in not only American, but world history, one that could signal a new era of international cooperation. Jose Barroso, the President of the European Commission, envisions a more ambitious globalization agenda and a ‘New Deal’ between the U.S.-EU. This would further foster multilateralism in areas of trade, security and climate change. EU officials have also proposed a global system for trading carbon credits. They are calling on developed countries and most notably the U.S. to sign on in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Others like British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are calling for a new global financial order. Recently, former U.S. Secretary of State and perpetual government insider, Henry Kissinger said that under Obama, there is an opportunity for a New World Order.

The global elite are making their move and they will pose as our loving saviours and offer their solution. World leaders, pundits, hacks and minions, are busy calling for a new global financial order and a New World Order. They recognize that the people are waking up to their lies, so they are accelerating plans for world government. Globalization and free trade, as well as IMF and World Bank loans, have been used to enslave the population and destroy national sovereignty. The notion of real choice is now more of an illusion. Minus the rhetoric and petty squabbles, it’s the same policies, same agenda, and the same team. Obama could be used to pitch a New World Order to the masses. This might not be the change that many had envisioned.

The global elite are making their move and they will pose as our loving saviours and offer their solution. World leaders, pundits, hacks and minions, are busy calling for a new global financial order and a New World Order. They recognize that the people are waking up to their lies, so they are accelerating plans for world government. Globalization and free trade, as well as IMF and World Bank loans, have been used to enslave the population and destroy national sovereignty. The notion of real choice is now more of an illusion. Minus the rhetoric and petty squabbles, it’s the same policies, same agenda, and the same team. Obama could be used to pitch a New World Order to the masses. This might not be the change that many had envisioned.

No More Bailouts.....Stop and Think

OMG. I don't know what else to say. Frightening doesn't describe it adequately.

Originally Posted by builditnow

OMG. I don't know what else to say. Frightening doesn't describe it adequately.

AMEN!

This reminded me that I heard a radio program yesterday say they had "debunked" the NAU and the Amero. So I just check out their links and this is where they lead.......now should we really put our faith in "snopes"?

North American Union

Claim: The leaders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico agreed in 2005 to subsume their countries into a greater "North American Union" by the year 2010.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2008]

I've heard rumors going around recently that President Bush, Mexican President Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Martin met in Waco, TX in 2005 and agreed to create a North American Union (NAU). In this plan it was (supposedly) outlined that by 2010 the borders between the three countries would be dissolved and there would only be a common border surrounding the former countries. Further, the plan called for a purposeful reduction in the value of the dollar to help facilitate the creation of a new currency (the Amero) common to the NAU. Also part of the plan is for the US to give up its sovereignty.

Origins: In March 2005, the leaders of the United States, Canada, and Mexico (President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Paul Martin, and President Vicente Fox, respectively) met in Texas to
discuss plans for increased cooperation between their three countries in areas of common interest, such as border security, protection against terrorist threats, improved trade relations, competitiveness in the global marketplace, the combating of infectious diseases, and disaster response.

Contrary to the rumor expressed in the example quoted above, the three men did not sign any treaty or agreement to subsume the sovereignty of their countries to a greater entity called the North American Union (NAU), eliminate their common borders, or create a common currency (akin to the Euro) to replace their nations' currencies. What the leaders agreed to was the creation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), a "dialogue to increase security and enhance prosperity among the three countries." The SPP is not itself an agreement or a treaty, it is not a movement to merge the United States, Mexico, and Canada into a North American Union or to establish a common currency, nor does it seek to alter or subsume the sovereignty of those three countries.

The notion that the establishment of a North American Union (along with the dissolving of national borders and the creation of a common currency) is set to take place in 2010 stems from proposals such as Building a North American Community (a publication of the Council on Foreign Relations in association with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales) which advocate more aggressive plans for North American cooperation, such as the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community, the boundaries of which would be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter." However, such proposals are merely analyses and recommendations developed by independent "think tanks"; they are not treaties, legislation, or official blueprints for future governmental actions.

None of this is to say that the three North American countries might not someday decide to form closer ties along the lines of the European Union, perhaps with a common currency and more fluid borders. But there is currently no official governmental plan underway to make all that happen by 2010.

Last updated: 9 January 2008

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/nau.asp

Amero Uproar

Claim: The U.S. has been producing the "Amero," money to be used by an economic union of the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, September 2007]

"THE AMERO" IS REAL;
I HAVE ONE TO PROVE IT!
UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO TO BE MERGED INTO SINGLE NEW ENTITY NAMED NORTH AMERICAN UNION!
By: Hal Turner

Three weeks ago, I published a brief snippet on the front page of my web site reporting the governments of the US Canada and Mexico are conspiring in secret to merge the three nations into a new entity called the North American Union.

There has been much talk of this on various internet blogs for over a year. Most of those blogs have been smeared as "conspiracy theorists" and have been largely ignored by the main stream.

What prompted my interest in the issue was money: I was sent professional images of actual AMERO coins by someone in the US Treasury! The person included a note saying they like my radio show and are frightened by what's been going on in secret within our government.

This Treasury Department person was outraged that our country was beginning to coin money as part of a merger that would do away with our country, via a merger the American public knew nothing about!

(Rest of article here).

Origins: To have any hope of making sense of this wild tale about coins to be used by an economic union of the USA, Canada, and Mexico being secretly minted by the U.S. government, we have to first delve into what the Euro is and why some folks are far from enamored of it. Bear with us while we take that short side trip. (Or, if you must, skip the next three paragraphs to transition directly to the U.S. portion of the story.)

The Euro is the official currency of the European Union, a supranational union comprising 27 member states, and is the sole currency for more than 317 million people. (Not every EU member country has chosen to adopt the Euro; some continue to use their traditional currencies.)

The move to a single currency in Europe comes with both advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, it does away with the cost of exchanging money, thereby leaving more cash in the pockets of both individual consumers and businesses. It also puts an end to the trouble of having to change one's currency into that of the country being traveled to or traded with, then having to change it back again afterwards — one simply uses the same wad of bills. And it ends fluctuations in the value of one country's money in relation to that of another: when only one currency is used, a cross-border deal struck for a specified amount of cash does not suddenly go up or down in price as the financial markets move, thereby ruining one party to the deal while dropping a windfall into the undeserving lap of the other.

On the downside, one central currency means one central bank, which means one central monetary policy. That means individual countries which have subscribed to such a plan cannot combat their individual homelands' economic problems by adjusting their countries' money supplies, either to stimulate growth in moribund national economies or to put the brakes on those that appear to be racing out of control — those countries must instead abide by what the group is doing, even when it runs counter to their individual best interests.

That covers what's going on in Europe, and why some love the Euro while others view it as a dangerous idea set loose upon an unsuspecting public. At various times, it has been suggested that North America should follow a like route by adopting an omnibus currency similar to the Euro, one that would serve as the common money for the USA, Canada, and Mexico. While that notion does have a few proponents, it is a long way from being taken seriously, let alone being regarded as a good idea.

Which brings us to the question of the "Amero," the name bestowed upon the hypothetical currency such a union would use as its common specie. In 1999, a professor of economics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver published The Case for the Amero, a study that advanced the idea that the
three North American countries would be better served by their having a common currency. And there the matter rests, or at least it did before Designs Computed thought to add to its catalogue of commemorative coins, medals, and tokens a suite of Ameros, a series of collectible coins struck from its concept of what coinage for such a currency might look like. Designs Computed is very clear on its web site that its Ameros are in fact "private-issue fantasy pattern coins [that] will be struck as an annual series," and indeed is already offering some of them for sale.

Neither the U.S. Mint nor the U.S. Treasury had a hand in creating these "Ameros." These coins are merely collectibles offered to the buying public by a private company in the business of manufacturing such curiosities.

On 31 August 2007, conservative radio host Hal Turner used images of the Amero tokens offered by Designs Computed as the basis for a far-fetched tale about his having been given a "real" Amero coin on the sly by an anonymous Treasury agent. In that story he claimed that a few days after he posted about the coin, a web site proclaiming Ameros to be fantasy coins (i.e., the Designs Computed site) was erected on the Internet as part of "a full blown effort to discredit my story and the images as fake." That was not the case — the Amero story was just another of Turner's outrage-provoking fictional tales. (In December 2008, Turner tried beating the same tired, apocryphal drum by claiming that he had obtained samples of Amero "paper currency notes.")

Daniel Carr, the entrepreneur behind Designs Computed, has been displaying on his web site the coins he has designed at least since 2000 and has been offering some of them for sale at least since 2005. While his "Amero" entry dates only to 2007, the coins depicted thereon fit seamlessly into his catalogue of similar offerings, including his "parody State Quarters." (Do have a look at some of his "parody State Quarters," particularly Maine's and Colorado's, which especially tickled our fancy.)

Barbara "maine event" Mikkelson

Last updated: 5 December 2008

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/amero.asp