Five years into Canada-Europe trade deal, full ratification not guaranteed

Canada’s trade deal with the European Union has been operating in draft mode for five years as of Wednesday, raising doubts it will ever be formally implemented.

A dispute over how corporations can sue governments remains unresolved. Yet Canadian trade experts say the deal remains a major win in an era of supply-chain shocks and pushback against globalization.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA, came into force provisionally on Sept. 21, 2017, with the signatures of the European Commission and the Canadian government.

Since then, Canada-EU trade has risen 33 per cent, amounting to $100 billion in goods and services last year.

It’s meant more exports of everything from seafood to automotive parts to Europe, which has boosted its pharmaceutical and meat exports to Canada.

Yet the deal isn’t legally in place until all 27 members of the bloc individually ratify the deal.

Lawrence Herman, a Toronto trade lawyer, said key parts of the deal around tariffs, digital commerce and public procurement are in place.

“It is in effect in every real way,” Herman said in an interview Tuesday from France.

“I don’t think CETA will ever be officially ratified.”

The most contentious issue surrounds which mechanisms countries can use to seek compensation and rectify disagreements with national, state and provincial governments, known as investor-state dispute settlements.

The idea is for a neutral mechanism to hear out complaints beyond courts, which could be influenced by national governments.

Labour and environmental activists have argued this gives up sovereignty of everything from consumer protection to worker safety.

A German senior court in February rejected arguments that this provision undermines the country’s constitution, but the clause remains controversial in Germany, which is among the 12 countries that haven’t ratified CETA.

CETA: 5 years later, full ratification not guaranteed | CTV News