In a joint statement published on Sunday 18 September, ahead of the EU trade ministers' meeting, which is due to examine this dossier at the end of the week, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and Canada's Minister for Trade Chrystia Freeland once again emphasised the benefits of the EU-Canada (CETA) free trade agreement.
They both highlighted the fact that "CETA is a progressive agreement that will set a new standard for international trade. It includes ambitious commitments that will benefit our societies and economies and reflects the shared values of Canada and the EU. Once implemented, CETA will serve as the basis of an on-going effort amongst like-minded partners to advance a progressive trade policy approach to ensure the benefits of trade accrue to a broader segment of society". They also provided assurances that "CETA itself is designed in a way that allows the parties to continually improve and update the agreement to strengthen its provisions and reflect new innovations".
They were eager to point out that “where formal clarifications are needed to allay concerns, we are committed to providing these" to the different countries, at the informal trade ministers' meeting in Bratislava on 22-23 October. Malmström and Freeland also explained that they were committed to "confirming our shared views on the delivery of public services, labour rights and environmental protection", as well as a "shared commitment to monitor carefully the improved investment dispute settlement mechanism included in CETA to ensure it operates in a truly independent manner".
The EU commissioner and her Canadian counterpart added that "CETA is the most forward-looking free trade agreement that Canada or the EU have ever negotiated and deserves to be assessed on its own merits. We are convinced that such an assessment reveals that this agreement will very much benefit both Canada and the EU”. They reaffirmed that the agreement would be signed this autumn and would be implemented in early 2017, which “remains our collective goal”. "We believe the right choice is for partnership and prosperity, not division and isolation, now more than ever. Now is the time to build bridges, not walls", they concluded.
Council efforts will focus on CETA. Signature of the agreement is due to take place during an EU-Canada summit in Brusselson 27 October, two years after the formal conclusion of the agreement on 26 September 2014 (see EUROPE 11164).
"We are hoping that everything will be in place to this end. We will be focusing all our efforts on the CETA", a Slovak diplomatic source confirmed on Monday 19 September.
A Community source has said that the draft Council decision regarding signature, on behalf of the EU, and regarding the provisional application of CETA, is expected to be approved by EU Permanent Representatives (Coreper) on 12 October at the latest, with a view to its adoption by EU foreign ministers at the General Affairs Council on 18 October.
Once the draft agreement is signed, it will be examined by the European Parliament in November, which will be called on to give its assent for the provisional application of CETA to go ahead. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)