Responding to concerns expressed by the new Italian government on the ratification, at national level, of the free-trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (CETA), the European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on Tuesday 26 June stressed the benefits of the agreement for Italian trade.
“We have not yet had the opportunity to discuss it with them. We do not know whether they really mean to reject the agreement or not submit it to the Italian Parliament”, Malmström told a press conference.
“What we do know, even though it is still early days, is that Italian exports to Canada have increased by 8% since September 2017. This is very important, there is strong demand in Canada for many Italian products; this means that CETA is a good thing for Italy”, she said.
The new agriculture minister, Gian Marco Centinaio, said in mid-June that Italy did not intend to ratify CETA, as it makes insufficient provision to protect its geographical origins.
The deal, which entered into force on 21 September 2017, has still to be ratified by the 28 member states of the EU for its full implementation, particularly as regards its provisions on investment.
So far, the national parliaments of ten countries have ratified it: Latvia, Denmark, Malta, Croatia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Lithuania and Austria.
The Belgian Federal Parliament will vote on the ratification of CETA on 5 July. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)