Reader Alert: EU-Canada Trade Agreement (CETA) Signed In Brussels

With a delay of mere days, CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada, will be signed Sunday in Brussels by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker. This follows two weeks of uncertainty over the deal that includes not only tariff reduction, but also an attempt to harmonise regulation and set up a reformed investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.

The Belgian region of Wallonia gave in to lift its ban on the deal, which had prevented the Belgian government from signing off on a unanimous acceptance in the 28-member EU Council. Belgian press was quick to report that not much had been achieved by Wallonia after all. Confirmations to ease their concerns with regard to the protection of their agriculture were given, but there was no change in the text, reported L’Echo Belge.

One concession made to the Walloons was that the Belgian government will send the intended ISDS system to the European Court of Justice to get a check on its compatibility with European law. Also still pending is a constitutional court proceeding before the German Federal Constitutional Court which will also check if obligations it made to the German government were met with an interpretative declaration annexed just recently to the main text of over 2200 pages.

The next step for the deal is a vote in the European Parliament, expected for December or January. If the Parliament passes CETA it can become effective early in 2017, on a provisional basis. Only after that will the 28 national parliaments of the European Union be given their say on the deal, but critics think it will be difficult to vote no at that point.

After the Wallonian blockade and the near-failure of the deal, those in favor of more CETA-like trade deals as well as those opposed to it both call for changes in the EU trade policy. Those in favour are calling for handing over more competency to the EU instead of having the mixed agreement concept. Those opposed want to see trade policy questioned and reformed much more fundamentally.

Image Credits: German Public Television