Question 1270 — foreign trade

Summary

Mr. Paul Christophe draws the attention of the Secretary of State, to the Minister of State, Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, to the impact on the environment, climate and health of the global economic and trade agreement, known as CETA (Comprehensive economic and trade agreement). CETA, an international free trade treaty between the European Union and Canada signed on October 30, 2016, provides for the reduction of customs duties reciprocal by 98% and lifts restrictions on access to public markets. It also strengthens cooperation between the European Union and Canada in terms of standardization and regulation. This treaty thus promises positive effects for the trade of the Member States of the Union, but also raises serious concerns among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and agricultural unions. They particularly fear a lowering of health and environmental standards, and fear increased competition between agricultural sectors. Sensitive to these concerns, the Prime Minister commissioned, as soon as he took office, an evaluation commission, chaired by Katheline Schubert, responsible for producing a report on the health and environmental impact of the agreement. The commission submitted its report on September 8, 2017. In it, it issued numerous reservations about the positive consequences of CETA. On the environmental level, experts regret the lack of ambition of the agreement which contains no binding commitment. They also highlight uncertainty regarding the possibility, for the European Union, of invoking the precautionary principle in future disputes, in the absence of an explicit mention in the treaty. CETA therefore seems incompatible with the Paris Agreement on the climate that the Government defends. Regarding product imports, experts fear that the liberalization of agricultural trade will force the European Union to align itself with Canadian standards, which are less demanding in terms of the use of pesticides or growth promoters (hormones, antibiotics). The report also highlights the possible obstacle to the ecological transition of agriculture in Europe that could constitute the agreement. Thus, in view of the report, CETA, which entered into force on September 21, 2017, still contains many gray areas which rightly worry NGOs and unions. Therefore, he would like to know why the Government has not delayed the entry into force of the agreement. He would also like to know the follow-up that the Government intends to give to the report and in particular to know whether the recommendations made will be implemented very concretely.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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