EU-Canada negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) started in May 2009 and were declared concluded at the EU-Canada Summit on 26 September 2014. The agreement's overall aim is to increase flows of goods, services and investment to the benefit of both partners. For the EU, CETA represents the first comprehensive economic agreement with a highly industrialised Western economy. Except for a few sensitive agricultural products, the agreement would remove practically all tariffs on goods exchanged between the two partners. Canada would substantially open up its public procurement at both federal and sub-federal level, thereby eliminating a major asymmetry in access to each other's public procurement markets. The EU succeeded in securing protection for a large number of European Geographical Indications (GIs) on the Canadian market. Provisions on sustainable development should ensure that trade and investment do not develop to the detriment of, but rather support, environmental protection and social development. On 5 July 2016, the Commission made three proposals for a Council decision with respect to CETA: to sign the agreement, on provisional application, and on conclusion. The Council and Member States have had difficult discussions on the conditions under which CETA can be signed. The consent procedure can be launched once the proposal to conclude the agreement has officially reached the European Parliament. First edition. The ‘International Agreements in Progress’ briefings are updated at key stages throughout the process, from initial discussions through to ratification.

Master's Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,7, University of Bamberg, language: English, abstract: This paper introduces the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which is a free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. The agreement is currently undergoing the ratification process in both jurisdictions. The CETA is aimed at the removal of trade and non-trade barriers and regulatory issues among other things. Some of the topics are highly controversial mainly due to differing standards and norms of both partners. After a thorough introduction of the background of CETA as well as its content, the paper discusses possible impacts of the agreement on the market entry of German SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) in Canada. Opportunities are evaluated for German SMEs. By reading this paper, the reader has the opportunity to inform himself/herself about CETA and to additionally form an opinion on the CETA based on the repercussions that affect German SMEs in the automotive industry presented in this paper. The paper finishes with a conclusion of the most important aspects of CETA

The Great Recession and the turn towards all forms of protectionism stress the relevance of international trade policy. With the global economy undergoing deep structural changes, the negotiations between Canada and the EU on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) present a real-time experiment that sheds light on the direction that the relationships between two economic units of the G8 will take. For Canada, an agreement with the EU would end its current dependency on the US; for the EU, an agreement with Canada would be a first with a G8-economy and indicate how its new trade strategy ‘Global Europe’ will look like. This book is the first to simultaneously analyze the undercurrents of this project and introduce the main topics at hand. CETA is much more than a simple free trade agreement, its breadth covers regulatory aspects in goods, services, and finance; the opening of public procurement markets; attitudes and policies of Canadian provinces towards liberalization; climate policies and international leadership claims of the EU in comparison to Canadian policy attempts; the challenges of the Euro project and the reform efforts; and the challenges of the Euro as a international reserve currency. CETA is a challenging project that will kick-start enormous changes in trade policy-making as well as in market openness in Canada. It will mark the EU’s efforts to re-make the Atlantic Economy. This book provides deep insights into the ambiguity of the project and addresses the implications of a rapidly changing global economy for trade policy. Offering analysis of the financial industry, banking, trade policy, climate change strategy, and the Euro exchange rate, this book should be of interest to students and policy-makers alike.

Once ratified, the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) could ultimately eliminate all tariff barriers between the European Union and Canada. CETA is also a new generation Free-Trade Agreement: it includes the opening of public procurement, the facilitation of cross investments and cooperation in the area of regulation. Its long negotiation process illustrated important changes that are happening in the way trade agreements are negotiated, both in Canada and in the EU. A wide variety of actors was involved. Because the federal government of Canada cannot implement international commitments in areas of provincial jurisdiction, the European Union requested that the provinces should be included in the discussions – Quebec and Ontario being the most interested. From the EU side, Germany, France and the United Kingdom led the process. Labor and trade unions as well as lobbying groups also supported the project. Following the signing of the agreement in October 2013, the ratification process was delayed because of the start of the TTIP negotiations between the European Union and the United States. Canadian civil society organizations had already expressed criticism, which was echoed by their European counterparts, particularly worried about the investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) system. The legal scrubbing phase resulted in a compromise on this point.The new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who replaced Conservative leader Stephen Harper in October 2015, has considered the implementation of the agreement as Canada's top priority regarding international trade.

This book analyzes the investment chapter of a new type of trade agreement between Canada and the European Union to help readers gain a better understanding of this mega-regional deal, which includes foreign investment protection. It first provides background information on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), particularly focusing on the chapter on foreign investment, including the rules on the entry of investments, their protection and the stringent dispute settlement mechanism. It goes on to explore whether these provisions are a further step toward reforming the current international investment law regime. It also examines the highly innovative part of the agreement: the inclusion of crosscutting issues, such as sustainable development. In addition, it examines the CETA investment chapter from the perspective of non-contracting parties, including Africa, Asia and Latin America. The book is of interest to academics and students in the field of international investment law. It is also an essential resource for government legal advisers, policymakers, business practitioners, and others dealing with international investment law.