CETA stands for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. It is a free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada. Its purpose is to reduce trade barriers and increase economic cooperation between the EU and Canada. Signed in 2016, most of its provisions have been provisionally applied since 2017 (meaning they are being implemented without full ratification by all EU member states).
CETA reduces tariffs (import taxes) between the EU and Canada, simplifies customs procedures, and opens up public procurement markets to companies from the other party.
CETA has been praised for boosting trade, but also criticized for potentially weakening environmental and food safety standards, and for giving corporations too much power through a special dispute-resolution mechanism. Full ratification is still underway. The Communists have succeeded in Reject the ratification of CETA, with the support of the right, by scheduling it for their designated time slot in the Senate. According to procedure, the bill must now return to the National Assembly for a new vote. While the executive branch still refuses to put it on the agenda, the same response is expected from the left: to table it on May 30, ten days before the European elections. The LR had already voted overwhelmingly against it in 2019; the left is united in denouncing free-trade agreements; and the RN has made it its main target on agricultural issues. The president’s relative majority will have to rise to the occasion—which is doubtful, as some members are expected to oppose ratification. Between now and the end of May, the government’s strategy should therefore consist of making its case. Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester has taken it upon himself to lambast «politically motivated strategies» and defend an agreement that will enable «better exports.».
