The Canada - EU Transatlantic Marketplace

The EU is the world's largest trading block and the biggest single market. Goods and services exports accounts for more than forty percent of Canada 's gross domestic product, with trade responsible for one out of every three jobs.

Economic relations between Canada and the EU are characterized by strong two-way trade and investment flows. Two-way trade in goods and services reached $109.4 billion in 2007, with almost 20% growth in Canadian exports from 2006 to 2007. The EU accounts for over 12% of Canada 's imports, and for slightly above 5% of its exports. Conversely, Canada accounts for 1.5% of EU imports and 2.2% of its exports placing it firmly among the EU's top 10 trading partners.

In the globalizing 90's, companies in Europe and North America began to rely less on selling to each other's market, and increasingly on selling in each other's market. The EU is the second largest investor in Canada (after the US), while Canada is the fourth investor in the EU (after the US , Switzerland and Japan). Two-way investment now accounts for over 3 times the amount of bilateral trade in goods and services, and is regularly increasing.

The stock of Canadian direct investment in the EU reached $122.5 billion at the end of 2007, representing almost one fourth of all Canadian direct investment abroad. The EU represents the second largest source of foreign direct investment in Canada, with investment stock amounting to $136.5 billion by the end of 2007. The result is that sales in each other's market by wholly-owned affiliates are four times the value of exports.

As the world moves towards greater economic integration, Canada and Europe are bound to draw still nearer together. As part of this, CERT is working with government to help pave the way for an enhanced Canada-EU free trade agreement. Released on October 16, 2008, the study Assessing the Costs and Benefits of a Closer Canada-EU Economic Partnership shows that the results of economic modeling indicate a lower bound of potential GDP gains from liberalizing goods and services trade of a minimum of $12 billion for Canada and $17 billion for the EU in the first seven years after liberalization.