As the French National Assembly prepares to focus on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), EUROPE examined, on Friday 28 June, the state of ratification procedures in all Member States.
To be fully implemented, this "mixed" jurisdiction agreement must be ratified by all Member States (EUROPE 12100/19). Since September 2018, the treaty has therefore only been applied on a provisional basis.
Opinion 1/17 for trigger
As of 30 April 2019, the date on which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on the legality of the Investment Court System (ICS) included in the Treaty with European law, 16 Member States had not yet ratified the agreement.
By establishing the compatibility of the ICS with EU law, the Court's Opinion 1/17 made it possible to unblock proceedings in a large number of these countries (see EUROPE 12245/3).
Status of the ratification process
A brief overview of the 16 States that, following the Court's judgment, had not yet ratified CETA:
- In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the Free Trade Agreement is still pending. The Bundestag will probably wait for the Constitutional Court to rule before proceeding with ratification, confirmed a European diplomat to EUROPE;
- Austria gave its green light to the agreement on 23 May 2019;
- Driven by the reluctance of its French-speaking entities, it was Belgium that brought the matter before the CJEU in 2017 (see EUROPE 11856/9). By the end of June 2019, the federal and Flemish levels had already ratified the agreement, but it still faces opposition in the regional assemblies in the south of the country.
- At its ordinary meeting on 26 June, the Bulgarian government adopted a decision on the approval and signature of CETA. Its ratification proposal will therefore be forwarded to Parliament in the coming days;
- In France, the National Assembly will study the agreement on 3 July 2019, a review encompassed by very detailed impact studies. On 7 June, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to adopt the text for ratification of the agreement as soon as possible;
- Since Opinion 1/17, Greece has also launched its ratification procedure, according to diplomatic sources;
- Hungary has also unblocked the procedure, it was confirmed to EUROPE;
- Ireland too, is seeking to make progress in the ratification of CETA, in particular by presenting a memorandum to the government asking it to submit a motion to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish Parliament. The latter will then vote on the agreement;
- Little return from Italy, where opposition was more focused on problems of geographical indications;
- Ratification procedures have also been initiated in Luxembourg, a European diplomat confirmed to EUROPE. Consultations with stakeholders are ongoing;
- The procedure is also ongoing in the Netherlands, with the government initiating the approval process in September 2018 by seeking the opinion of the Council of State, which was delivered in November 2018. CETA was submitted to Parliament for approval in March 2019. The week of 16 June, the government replied to written questions from Parliament; it is now up to the Houses of Parliament to organise the debates;
- In Slovenia, the publication of a study, expected before the end of the year, will launch the ratification process;
- In Slovakia, where the government approved the proposal in February 2018, the procedure has yet to be unblocked in the Slovak Parliament and is still waiting to be examined by the respective parliamentary committees.
Cyprus, Poland and Romania have also not yet ratified CETA.
Possible ‘Mercosur effect’
Some of these countries, however, could see their ratification process undermined by a possible conclusion of the free trade agreement with the South American bloc of Mercosur (see EUROPE 12278A14).
This could stir up passions in some countries, particularly in France or Belgium, and see the resurgence of a front hostile to European trade policy (see EUROPE 11952/18). (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)