Brussels, 06/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is hoping that a decision will “soon” be taken at the Council so that the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) can be signed at the end of October and then provisionally applied in spring 2017, a source close to the matter at the European Commission told EUROPE.
“Hopefully a decision on signature will soon be taken” at the Council for signature of the CETA at the EU-Canada summit “at the end of October”, this source said. “The European Parliament gave indications it will try to speed it [the process for giving its consent] up, and hopefully a provisional application sometime early next spring”, the source added.
Although its legal service interpreted the CETA as an agreement of exclusive EU competence, the Commission finally proposed, on Tuesday 5 July, signing and concluding the CETA as a 'mixed agreement', which means that its ratification by the EU requires not only the approval of the European Parliament but also that of the national parliaments (EUROPE 11587).
“The member states suggested that the Commission not follow its legal interpretation because the controversy in the national parliaments and in public opinion is far too important”, the source admitted. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)