On Monday 12 September the Canadian trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, said that Canada wanted to sign its Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the EU in October, with its ratification by the end of that month and its provisional implementation by the beginning of 2017.
During a conference in Toronto, Freeland provided assurances that CETA would constitute an "enormous competitive advantage" for Canada. She added that "at a time when many in the world are saying ‘no’ to trade and the global economy, Canada is able to say ‘yes’". CETA is expected to be signed during an EU-Canada summit in Brussels on 27 October, two years after its formal conclusion on 26 September 2014 (see EUROPE 11164).
Completion of the legal scrubbing of the draft agreement finalised on 29 February, as well as the agreement concluded between the two parties on the chapter relating to investment protection (see EUROPE 11501), paved the way towards the CETA signing and ratification process by the two parties.
On the EU side, the Commission proposed on 5 July signing and concluding CETA as a "mixed agreement", which means that its ratification by the EU would require the approval of the European and national parliaments (see EUROPE 11587).
An EU source said that the draft Council decision on signing, on behalf of the EU, and provisionally applying the CETA must be approved by the EU permanent representatives (Coreper) on 12 October at the latest, with the aim of the CETA being adopted by the EU foreign affairs ministers during the General Affairs Council on 18 October.
Once signed, the draft agreement will be examined by the European Parliament in November, which will be requested to give its consent for the provisional implementation of the CETA. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)