Oh Canada! Stalled EU-Canadian trade deal revived

The stalled EU-Canada trade deal has been revived following an agreement between both sides to overcome last-minute concerns regarding investment protection and investment dispute settlement, also allowing the final legal checks of the deal to have been concluded.

The stalled EU-Canada trade deal has been revived following an agreement between both sides to overcome last-minute concerns regarding investment protection and investment dispute settlement, also allowing the final legal checks of the deal to have been concluded.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), will remove 99% of customs duties, saving European exporters around €500 million a year. It will also enable EU companies to bid for public contracts in Canada, to access Canadian services and investment markets, and to strengthen measures against copying European products and innovations in Canada.

European Conservatives and Reformists Group MEPs have now called for EU governments and the European Parliament to move swiftly on approving the agreement.

ECR Group International Trade Committee Coordinator, Emma McClarkin MEP said:

“We welcome that progress is being made again on this trade agreement that will have significant benefits for businesses on either side of the Atlantic. There is now no valid reason why this deal cannot be agreed and delivered without further delay.”

ECR shadow rapporteur on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), David Campbell Bannerman MEP, said:

“Opening trade between the EU and Canada is a thoroughly natural and well overdue move, one that will bring millions of euros in benefits to UK and EU businesses and families. The European Parliament and Member State governments should now push ahead with this trade agreement without any further delay. Each day wasted slows down economic growth in both the EU and Canada. It was a disgrace that two years were wasted because the EU sought to dictate human rights conditions to Canada, a huge insult. The EU should stick to trade not politics, and we must make up for lost time.”