14/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - Austria wants CETA to be a mixed agreement. The Austrian government is opposed to the Commission proposal to define the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA) as a purely EU agreement, and wants it to be classified as a “mixed agreement”. In a statement reported by the Austrian press service, APA, the Austrian vice chancellor, Reinhold Mitterlehner, said that the CETA's ratification requires approval by the national parliaments. He highlighted that it was a “democratic issue” and that Austria would object to it in a letter to the president of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the commissioner for trade, Cecilia Malmström. The Commission is expected to submit a formal proposal to the Council by the end of June for expected signature of the CETA by October. The proposal will also be sent to the European Parliament for its ratification, with a view to temporary implementation of the agreement at the beginning of 2017. (EH)