CETA, feta and trade deal difficulties

For once, Greece could not be blamed for scuppering a major agreement in Brussels. Nevertheless, there is much for Greeks to ponder following the collapse last Friday of the European Union's efforts to clinch the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.

Coming in the wake of the EU and the USA reaching a dead-end in their attempt to agree the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), CETA's demise has raised questions about whether the Union is united enough to be able to clinch deals of this magnitude.

According to Eurostat figures, 11 percent of the trade EU countries conduct outside of the bloc is with Canada. The total value of the trade in goods and services between the EU and Canada was worth more than 90 billion euros last year, while Europeans invested 274.7 billion euros in Canada. The foreign direct investment from Canadians...