Brussels, 24/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - At the end of its three-day visit to Canada on Wednesday 23 March, the European Parliament's delegation led by chair of the international trade committee Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany) and rapporteur on the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA) Artis Pabriks (EPP, Latvia) hailed the clear support of the Canadian government for the CETA, which will be submitted for ratification in the coming months.
The members of the delegation described their visit and meetings as “very constructive”. Their meetings were with representatives from the Canadian government (including Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland), from the province of Quebec and Canadian stakeholders, with an outlook of ratifying the CETA. The members of the delegation welcomed the “clear support” for the agreement by the new government led by Justin Trudeau.
The international trade committee is due to prepare a recommendation for the European Parliament on whether to support or reject the CETA, which was finalised on 29 February after legal scrubbing, and the agreement concluded between the two sides on the CETA chapter on investment protection (see EUROPE 11501 and 11504).
After translation of the text of the agreement into all the official languages of the EU, the Commission is due to propose the text of the CETA at the end of spring, for ratification by the Council in June and by the European Parliament in September-October, with a view to provisional implementation of the agreement in 2017.
The EU and Canada formally concluded their CETA bilateral agreement on the economy and trade on 26 September 2014 (see EUROPE 11164), a year after an agreement in principle of this agreement on 18 October 2013 (see EUROPE 11946, 11947, 11948).
Canadian solidarity after tragedy in Brussels. The MEPs also said they were “deeply moved” at the solidarity expressed by their Canadian hosts, with flags flying half-mast in Ottawa and Montreal in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on 22 March.
“We are deeply moved by the solidarity expressed by our Canadian counterparts in view of the terrible attacks carried out yesterday in Brussels. Flags are at half-mast, and authorities have expressed their condolences in all meetings. This shows not only great support, but also the shared values between the EU and Canada”, the MEPs said in a press release. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)