No wonder Angela Merkel is looking at Justin Trudeau with doe eyes – Europe needs all the friends it can get

Merkel wasn't really under the spell of Trudeau's well-practised hypnotic skills, she was just happy that the controversial CETA is less of a political hard sell now Trump is in the White House

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met over dinner to discuss the newly-ratified CETA trade deal (Picture: Guido Bergmann/Bundesregierung via Getty Images)

Justin Trudeau has got it all: the looks, the accent, the charm, the politics. Just take a cursory look at the pictures of his official visit to Angela Merkel in Berlin last week. In some of them, the German chancellor looks somewhere between stupefied and infatuated, besotted even. And Merkel is only the last of a long series of international figures who have failed to keep themselves together while standing before the Canadian Prime Minister.

Trudeau and Merkel’s candlelit dinner, during which these stolen glances were captured, was to celebrate the CETA trade deal, now firmly pushing ahead. Though several national and regional parliaments will each have a say, the EU Parliament has ratified the agreement.

It's clear by now that we must reassess CETA in the light of the recent global-reach political events. Anti-CETA groups are not against trade per se; they are against behind-closed-doors deals between executives, lawyers and multinationals – also known as the global ‘elite’ – instead of agreements cut with the input and acknowledgement of workers and consumers.

The term “open” – as in an open trade deal – can unexpectedly turn negative if the apparent benefits of such “openness” flow only to some and not to all. Openness can be seen as a tool of exploitation, rather than inclusivity. Thanks to these concerns, CETA was much questioned in the years leading up to ratification. Last year opposition grew significantly.

But then we had the US election of Donald Trump, and now Trudeau and the CETA deal look a whole lot more attractive when compared to the alternative.

The risks of the world becoming much more “closed” have perhaps caused a push in the alternative direction, with CETA's positive influence now being blown out of proportion instead. The anti-trade mood stoked by Trump and his Cabinet could damage international business and lead to the suppression of millions of jobs but, equally, can we afford the luxury of witnessing a multinational successfully suing one of our governments (this has already happened in Latin America and Asia already)?

Nevertheless, the CETA trade deal has indeed become much less controversial, almost overnight. On his visit to Europe, Trudeau's was barely asked to explain to the European people what was good about CETA in terms of encouraging openness and collaboration between nations; it is being perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a major vehicle against isolationism. Thanks to CETA, Trudeau's task of positioning himself a North American ambassador of freedom was made much easier – the deal did the work for him.

Europe in the era of Trump and Brexit needs friends, partners, solid networks. This is why Trudeau's visit to Germany and France was so important. Merkel wasn't really under the spell of Trudeau's well-practised hypnotic skills, she was just happy that the controversial CETA is less of a political hard sell now Trump is in the White House.

She is right to be relieved. These are not times to be picky as a European citizen. Not all battles are worth fighting.