European Commission proposes conclusion of EU-Canada free trade deal

The European Commission has formally proposed to the EU Council the signature and conclusion of a free trade agreement with Canada.

EC president Jean-Claude Juncker said that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) should be ratified by national parliaments.

“The trade agreement between the EU and Canada is our best and most progressive trade agreement and I want it to enter into force as soon as possible,” he said in a statement. “It provides new opportunities for European countries, while promoting our high standards for the benefit of citizens. I have looked at the legal agreements and I have listened to heads of state and to national parliaments. Now it is time to deliver; the credibility of Europe’s trade policy is at stake.”

He said that the deal will benefit European citizens and businesses by scrapping customs duties, saving hundreds of millions of euros a year in duty payments and therefore reducing prices and increasing choice of products imported from Canada.

It will make it easier for service suppliers to travel between the EU and Canada, facilitate the recognition of professional qualifications for regulated professions, and allow EU companies to bid for Canadian public contracts at all levels of government.

It will also see both the EU and Canada mutually recognizing each other’s “conformity assessment certificates”.

“Therefore, if an EU firm wants to export toys it will only need to get its product tested once, in Europe, to obtain a certificate valid for Canada, thus saving time and money,” the EC said.

The CETA will also establish a new investment court system, while both sides have pledged not to undermine the EU’s labour and environmental standards for the sake of commercial interests.

“The agreement reached with Canada is a milestone in European trade policy. It is the most ambitious trade agreement that the EU has ever concluded and will deepen our longstanding relations with Canada,” EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said. “It will help to generate much-needed growth and jobs while fully upholding Europe’s high standards in areas like food safety, environmental protection and people’s rights at work.”