The EU’s realist power: public procurement and CETA negotiations with Canada

One of the thornier areas of negotiation in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU) was the issue of public procurement in the Canadian market. For the EU, the right to bid on government contracts was a critical component of engaging the two markets. For Canada, the idea of opening up public procurement to the European market provoked public protest. This paper uses public procurement as a platform to develop the realist perspective on the EU’s economic competitiveness, both within CETA and within the WTO. Both the process and outcome of negotiations within CETA illustrate the role of the EU as a deliberately dominant power in the realm of international trade liberalisation. This contribution to power-based theories of international relations is significant for the EU’s own role in future trade negotiations, and its position in shaping precedents for the norms of international trade.