Trade Officials Push for Canada-EU Deal's Ratification, Despite Hurdles

Trade officials are pressing for the ratification of a bilateral EU-Canada trade pact to occur this year, amid continued public scepticism and a separate row over visa-free travel that some officials say could be damaging to the FTA approval process. Negotiations for the trade deal, known formally as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), were completed in 2014, following over six years of negotiations. Earlier this year, the EU and Canada announced that they had revised the investment protection terms of the trade deal during a “legal scrub” process, incorporating an “investment court system” that the 28-nation bloc is advocating should become a standard feature of its future trade agreements. (See Bridges Weekly, 3 March 2016 ) Officials at the time touted the changes as a sign that negotiators were taking into account public concerns, given the heated controversy over the earlier investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism that was previously part of the trade pact. However, some critics have said that the changes are insufficient to resolve their concerns. EU and Canadian trade officials also confirmed that they would be aiming to sign the CETA this year, in order for the pact to enter into force the year following...