RE:RE:great news Scholz and Habeck want to strengthen economic relations with in Canada
21.08.2022 17:37
With a three-day visit to Canada, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) want to significantly strengthen economic relations with the world's second-largest country. The focus will be on energy and raw materials supplies to Germany. However, the talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also focus on support for Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, and on dealings with China.
Scholz and Habeck left for Montreal late Sunday afternoon, after which they will continue on to the economic metropolis of Toronto and to Newfoundland in the east of the country. Three stops in three days - this is the chancellor's longest inaugural visit to a single country to date.
"We want to create a reliable network of industrial cooperation and use the advantages that Canada and Germany bring with them," Scholz had already said in an interview with the Canadian newspaper "Globe and Mail" at the beginning of August, referring to the trip. "We need concrete measures now and I think this makes a lot of economic sense for our two countries."
The German business community is hoping that the ratification of the Ceta free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada by the Bundestag, expected in the fall, will provide a particular boost to trade relations. "It would give an effective signal for open markets and rules-based trade in overall difficult trade policy times," said the president of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), Peter Adrian, before the departure.
However, there is also strong criticism of the agreement. A broad alliance of trade unions, environmentalists and human rights groups warned the Bundestag over the weekend against approving Ceta. The treaty unilaterally protects corporate interests by undermining democratic decision-making and preventing effective policies to protect the climate, the environment and social services, according to an appeal by the organizations from Europe and Canada.
Ceta only puts obstacles in the way of the phase-out of fossil fuels, which is urgently needed in light of the climate crisis, they said, "because the introduction of special rights for corporations would primarily benefit oil, gas and commodity companies." Among the signatories are Attac, the conservationists of Greenpeace, Nabu and Bund, as well as the Parittische Wohlfahrtsverband, Verdi, Foodwatch, Climate Action Network Canada and Friends of the Earth Canada.
Germany also wants to approve the Ceta treaty. Ratification is planned for the fall. Parts of the trade agreement had already entered into force in 2017 - but only in those areas for which the EU is undoubtedly solely responsible and not its member states. The other parts are on hold until ratification is completed in all countries.
Scholz and his Economics and Climate Minister Habeck are traveling abroad together for only the second time. In May, they were together at a North Sea summit that focused on increasing the use of wind power.
The political talks with Trudeau will take place on Monday in Montreal, where the Canadian prime minister has his constituency. They will then continue to the economic metropolis of Toronto, where Scholz, Habeck and Trudeau will take part in a German-Canadian economic conference. The Chancellor and Vice Chancellor will be accompanied by a good dozen business representatives.
A visit to the remote town of Stephenville in Newfoundland is then planned for Tuesday afternoon. There, the focus will be on the development of hydrogen technologies and the establishment of hydrogen supply chains. An agreement is also to be signed to this end. More liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada is not yet expected in the next year or two because the infrastructure for it is still lacking. Cooperation in raw materials includes cobalt, nickel, graphite and lithium - minerals needed to make batteries.
With an area of almost one million square kilometers, Canada is the second-largest country in the world after Russia, but with around 37 million inhabitants it is comparatively sparsely populated. The country is Germany's partner in the G7 of economically strong democracies and in NATO./mfi/DP/mis
(AWP)