The French Senate rejects the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada

First Amendment: 03/22/2024 – 02:30

3 minutes

On Thursday 21 March, French senators voted against CETA, a free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada, jeopardizing the ratification of this much-criticised, but government-supported, agreement. In a very tense atmosphere, lawmakers rejected Article 1 of the draft law on this treaty by a majority of 211 votes to 44.

It is a “political thunder”, a “democratic victory”, and the government “cannot remain deaf”, communist Senator Fabien Guy rejoiced, calling on the government to continue the parliamentary shuttle of this treaty, which has been provisionally implemented since 2017 but has never been fully ratified France .

The Communist senators rivaled the ingenuity to achieve this: in an unusual move in Parliament, they included in their allotted parliamentary time not a bill, but a government project authorizing the government to ratify the famous International Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Frank Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, announced at the beginning of the morning discussions: “I want to denounce in advance what could be a crude maneuver, an unacceptable manipulation with serious consequences for our country.”

CETA was signed in 2016, adopted at European level in 2017, and narrowly approved by the National Assembly in 2019. But the government never referred the matter to the Senate, a necessary step in the process.

Left-right alliance

Environmentalists, socialists, and a large portion of Senators from the Senate Republicans (LR), the largest group in the Senate, opposed the treaty.

CETA, which removes tariffs on 98% of products traded between the EU and Canada, has been widely criticized, particularly by French farmers, who complain that meat is imported at too high a cost and is of lower quality than its counterparts. With methods less stringent than those to which they are subjected.

Senator from the Left Party, Laurent Duplome, said: “We say enough to the unfair competition to which we subject European producers by imposing increasingly strict rules, while turning a blind eye to imported products.”

For their part, the Socialists insist that this agreement represents “a concession to environmental ambitions,” according to Senator Didier Marie.

At the invitation of many unions and associations, dozens of people gathered in front of the Senate on Thursday morning to oppose the CETA agreement, in the presence of a number of parliamentarians.

For their part, pro-Ceta lobbyists have been hyperactive in recent days, as several senators acknowledged when contacted by the Canadian Embassy, ​​business leaders and employer organizations.

The vote in the Senate “cannot remain a dead letter”

Although the government realized that the game was not going well, Frank Riester tried to persuade the Republicans “not to fall into the trap of a disproportionate and unnatural alliance with the Communists” and “to leave the European campaign in abeyance.”

But the decision was decided, especially since the proposal to return the text to the committee and postpone voting on it was rejected by a difference of more than 100 votes.

The Senate's rejection is by no means an easy matter, as it will lead to the text being reconsidered by the National Assembly. There is also a high risk of rejection there.

After the Senate rejected the CETA project, the Communist Group in the French National Assembly announced that it was ready to study the text in its parliamentary place on May 30, ten days before the European elections. The Communist representatives stated in a statement that the Senate vote “cannot remain a dead letter.” They stated that “the National Assembly's confirmation of CETA's rejection will put an end to its implementation.”

However, if the national parliament decides not to ratify the treaty, its provisional application throughout Europe will be called into question. But on the condition that the French government notifies Brussels of its parliament’s decision.

Currently, ten member states have not completed the ratification process, and only one has rejected it: Cyprus. But Nicosia never notified the EU of this rejection, meaning the agreement could continue to apply.

This version is adapted from its French version