Ratification tracker: Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union was officially signed during the Canada-EU summit in October 2016. On September 21, 2017, CETA entered into provisional application in Canada and the EU. As a mixed trade agreement, CETA must be ratified by all EU member states before it will fully come into force.
As of August 2024, 17 member states have completed the domestic ratification: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden.(The United Kingdom, which has left the EU, also ratified CETA while it was still a member state.) Member states that have not ratified CETA include the following: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Slovenia.
Public contestation about CETA
Contestation surrounding the ratification of CETA in EU member states has ranged from very limited to highly intensive. Opposition to CETA has focused on the following aspects: the proposed system of investor-state dispute settlement (through a CETA tribunal); the agreement’s impact on national sovereignty, agricultural and commercial interests; food safety; consumer and worker rights; public services; as well as the environment and sustainable development. Please click here for a more detailed explanation of these concerns.
Canada-EU trade performance
Trade in goods and services between Canada and the EU has grown since CETA entered into provisional application . There was a COVID-19 related decline in 2020, but recovery in 2021 and further expansion is projected in 2022. Bilateral trade in 2020 was still 12.5% higher than pre-CETA in 2016 (Global Affairs Canada). Moreover, preference utilization rates that measure the extent to which tariff preferences provided by the agreement are being used by importers and exporters have continued to increase. Please click here for a more detailed analysis of Canada-EU trade performance.
Debates on CETA ratification in the EU member states
Debates about CETA ratification have differed significantly between member states. Please click on the member state below for an analysis of progress in the ratification process, as well as the issues that have dominated CETA-related debates.
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
*United KingdomClick here for the Centre for European Studies, EU Learning.
Author: Jake Rooke.
Edited by: Cristina De Castro.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
