Dwarfed by the arduous trade negotiations between the E.U.
and U.S., the E.U. and Canada actually completed negotiations on a free-trade
deal in February, 2016. Ratification had to be pushed back from the fall. The drag
from the “deep suspicion over the benefits of unrestricted trade” that was
increasing globally was ostensibly the reason.[1]
I contend that the true obstacle was the amount of sovereignty that the E.U.
states still retained in the Union. Americans can think back to the Articles of
Confederation as having the same major drawback. In the E.U.’s case, however,
the Union had evolved past being a confederation, given the governmental
sovereignty already at the federal level. The veto-power of a state government
was thus out of place, and thus an obstacle for the E.U. even in fulfilling its
existing responsibilities at the federal level.
The complete essay is at Essays on Two Federal Empires.
[1]
Paul Vieira, “Antitrade Sentiment Thwarts Talks,” The Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2016.
