On Thursday 21 September – the day before the provisional entry into force of the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA) – British MEPs from the ECR Group at the European Parliament called on the British government to model the future free trade agreement (FTA) that the UK will negotiate with Canada, once the UK leaves the EU, on CETA.
"The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is the most detailed ever signed by the EU and will be worth £1.3 billion a year to Britain alone. From tomorrow UK producers, businesses and consumers will begin to realise the benefits when most parts of the agreement begin to be applied", a press release of 21 September from the British conservatives at the European Parliament states.
During her visit to Ottawa on 20 September, British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau confirmed they would use CETA to ensure a swift transition towards a trade agreement between the UK and Canada after Brexit.
"CETA removes 99 per-cent of tariffs on trade between the EU and Canada and, importantly for the UK, reduces barriers for trade in services. With services representing half of the UK’s exports to Canada, this is good news for our small and medium sized businesses that were previously priced out of the Canadian market", David Campbell Bannerman MEP states, who was the shadow-rapporteur on CETA at the European Parliament. "It is no surprise that Justin Trudeau has welcomed the idea of doing a trade deal with UK, given how difficult it was for the EU to ratify the deal", he said.
"Canada is a country with which the UK shares values and principles, and this agreement is one that both of us would want to continue and build on after we leave the European Union. I believe CETA will become the gold standard of agreements and one we can tailor to suit the priorities of the British and Canadian economies post-Brexit", Emma McClarkin MEP, an ECR Group specialist on trade issues, states. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)