Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

Even by the standards of negotiations surrounding the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the last week of news about the status of the negotiations has been bewildering.

There has been a flurry of developments on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) over the past four days. And there are undoubtedly more twists and turns to come.

The rejection by Germany is a significant development because, "All 28 members of the EU have to sign the agreement for it to take effect." It is also notable that Germany is Europe's largest economy.

The results of a recent Angus Reid poll suggest that 68 per cent of Canadians support CETA. While on the surface, things look great for CETA, that top-level result doesn't tell the whole story.

It would appear that when it comes to the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, even things that aren't secret need to be kept safely under wraps by the Harper government.

While expectations still are that negotiators will soon reach a final agreement on CETA, with growing concerns in Europe, there are still plenty of opportunities to derail this dangerous deal.

Rumours that the final outstanding issues in the Canada-EU trade deal would be concluded and a final agreement reached have proven false, and negotiations are still ongoing.

CETA negotiations have entered the final phase and the expectation is that Trade Minister Ed Fast and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will agree on the final points on May 7.

Canada and other players are trying to leverage the political crisis in Ukraine to make a case for more North American imports of the dirty stuff: tar sands from Alberta and fracked gas.

An expanding public awareness of the failure of corporate trade deals will make it more difficult to sell CETA as a win for Canada while ensuring more recruits to the TTIP and CETA fights in Europe.