BBC News, 18
October 2013
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Mr Harper (left) and Mr Barroso said the deal was "of great importance" to Canada and EU member states |
The deal
will lower tariffs, streamline regulation, and cut red tape.
Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso agreed the deal at a meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Mr Barroso
said they had reached a "breakthrough in negotiations" to achieve
"a great agreement for both the European Union and Canada".
The deal
still requires approval by parliaments and EU member states.
Once
approved, the agreement aims to make it easier for companies in Canada and the
28-member EU bloc to invest in and sell to each other.
The
European Union is Canada's second-largest trading partner behind the US.
Mr Harper
said the agreement was "the biggest (trade) deal our country has ever
made". It will give Canada access to a market of some 500 million people
in the EU, making it bigger even than the country's North American Free Trade
Agreement signed with the US and Mexico.
The
European Commission expects the deal to increase bilateral trade in goods and
services by a fifth to 25.7bn euros ($35bn; £21.7bn) a year.
The
commission is negotiating trade pacts with more than 80 countries on behalf of
the bloc's members following the collapse of the Doha global trade talks.
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