Merkel, Harper back EU-Canada trade deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Premier Stephen Harper both supported the pending trade deal between the European Union and Canada during a brief meeting late Monday in Ottawa.
Signed last year, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement still must be ratified by the European Council and European Parliament.
In a Canadian stop for dinner and a meeting with Harper, after earlier holding talks with US President Barack Obama earlier Monday in Washington, Merkel called the EU-Canada trade deal a "good opportunity for our economy" at a time of low growth in Germany and across the Eurozone.
The agreement, which is considered a possible blueprint for sputtering talks on a US-EU free-trade deal, faces opposition from some German political circles voicing feat that European consumer standards would be eroded.
"I think it's been clear at every step both of our governments, both leaders, have been committed to finding an agreement, getting an agreement and seeing it through," Harper said.
"I think it's very important at this point in the global economy and particularly given all the uncertainties and difficulties in the developed world that Canada and Europe have not only concluded this agreement but show every ability to move it forward," he added.
The EU-Canada deal is "the kind of positive news that the world needs to see, and the kind of commitment to trade they need to see from major Western countries," Harper said.