EU, Canada and the meaning of CETA

Yesterday the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the Strategic Partnership Agreement (CETA) was signed in Brussels after weeks of intense negotiations. We have now an agreement which can be considered as the standard for future trade deals. CETA is a good, modern and progressive agreement which takes on board Canadian and European concerns.

The presence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Brussels yesterday for the signature and in the European Parliament represents much more than a positive step in our bilateral relations, it signals that the EU and Canada are committed to working together to shape international relations and international trade on the basis of openness and shared values.

This agreement is also a message to those who wrote-off the European Union as ineffective, inconclusive and inward-looking. The EU is not turning its back on the world, it is more committed than ever to working with its partners to defend its values and create opportunities for its citizens and enterprises.

Free, balanced and open trade is a lever for growth and job creation. We have a creative, educated and skilled workforce which can compete worldwide, if the level playing-field is respected. What we have to clearly oppose, and defend ourselves from, is unfair trade from places where workers’ rights are trampled on, where trade unions are banned, where products are dumped and where taxes are evaded and eluded.

It is not by isolating ourselves from others that we will defend ourselves from globalisation: it is by engaging and shaping the current trade system.