Prime Minister looks to light fire under Europeans on trade deal
by The Canadian Press
Stephen Harper met with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss deal
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—Stephen Harper is giving the Europeans a friendly but firm nudge on trade.
The Prime Minister met with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso in a bilateral meeting on the fringes of the G20 summit.
A Canada-European Union trade agreement has been inching toward the finish line, and the slow pace has frustrated the Conservative government.
Harper was expected to express his determination to conclude the deal soon, and urge Barroso to get things moving on his end.
Leaders from the world’s 20 biggest economies will wrap up their discussions Sept. 6 in St. Petersburg, Russia, on a range of topics, including fiscal consolidation.
A dinner meeting that extended well into the evening the previous day touched on the topic of Syria, but a chasm still remains between the positions of the United States, France and the United Kingdom on one side, and Russia and a number of other nations on the other.
