The ratification process of the economic partnership agreement with Japan, signed on 17 July (see EUROPE 12064), is following its course at the European Parliament.
On Thursday 27 September, MEPs from the international trade (INTA) committee once again looked into the EU-Japan free trade agreement (FTA) during the presentation of the European Parliament's draft resolution.
In his report, Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D, Portugal) recommends that the Parliament give its consent to the ratification of the agreement, citing the strategic importance of the FTA in a troubled global environment. He also stated that the agreement enabled the fostering of European values and standards in the Asia-Pacific region, underlining its major economic impact.
In addition, Silva Pereira supported a "fairly balanced" agreement. "Truly speaking, the most sensitive sectors during the negotiations – agriculture, automobiles, the railway sector – are now all speaking in favour of the final outcome", he said.
Due to its inclusion of sustainable development and the climate, "this agreement is clearly a CETA+", he said, referring to the trade agreement with Canada.
During the debate, MEPs from the EPP, ECR and ALDE Groups generally supported the rapporteur's text. They were joined by Tiziana Beghin (EFDD, Italy).
On the left, Emmanuel Maurel (S&D, France) nevertheless expressed concern that the trade tension with the USA was dictating a blank cheque for this ratification. German ecologist Klaus Buchner asked the European Commission to return to the negotiating table to add a binding mechanism to the agreement's sustainable development chapter. In his view, protection of the right to regulate in services, as well as on the protection against trade in illegal timber, are not sufficiently ensured either.
Other MEPs, such as Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL, Germany) and Marie Arena (S&D, Belgium), went further, arguing that the European negotiators had been too timid in these aspects of the negotiation. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)