French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau defended the free trade treaty between the European Union and Canada on Thursday. The two men expressed confidence in the continued implementation of this agreement, known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, in French.
Ten European states have yet to ratify this trade agreement, which entered into force provisionally at European level on September 21, 2017. In the afternoon, the French Prime Minister went to Quebec, a French-speaking province of Canada with which France maintains a “direct and privileged” relationship. He will meet Quebec Prime Minister François Legault and deliver a speech to the Quebec National Assembly. Despite this long absence, Franco-Quebec relations “are obviously not weakening. Our objective is to embody this strength and give it a little flesh,” we emphasize to Matignon, said Attal, speaking of a ‘fair and balanced agreement.’ Last year France sent 350 firefighters to help Canada fight the worst fire season in its history, which ravaged more than 15 million hectares.