French government refuses to put CETA to parliamentary vote before European elections

The ratification of CETA, the trade agreement between the EU and Canada, rejected last week by the French Senate, will not be submitted to the National Assembly before the European Elections, the French government confirmed, to avoid “instrumentalization of the debate.”

French Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester said in an interview with Le Figaro on Tuesday (26 March), “We do not wish, as we saw in the Senate, for certain opposition groups to exploit this legitimate debate for electoral purposes.”

To be fully operational, CETA requires ratification of all 27 member states. At the EU level, only Cyprus has voted against it but has not notified the decision to the European Commission, so allowing the treaty to still apply.

Ten states – including France – have yet to make their final decision, and 17 have already given their approval.

On Thursday 21 March, the Senate, one of the two chambers of the French Parliament, rejected the deal, although it had been accepted in 2019 by the National Assembly, the other chamber.

It is now up to the National Assembly to have the final say at a second reading.

The rejection stems from an initiative of the Communist Group which put the vote on the agenda for their dedicated parliamentary day on 21 March.

Following the rejection, fellow representatives from the same parties announced they would do the same in the National Assembly on 30 May when CETA was expected to come up for votes, just 9 days before the European Elections.

But to do so, the government must agree to allow CETA to be approved by lawmakers. In his interview, Franck Riester confirmed that the bill will be assessed “when the time comes, but not before the European Elections.”

In his view, “the unholy alliance in the Senate between the Communist group and some of the LR senators [Les Républicains, EPP group] is not only a political ploy, but also a blow to our businesses, our farmers and winegrowers, our cheese producers, and all those who work in French companies exporting to Canada.”

After the interview, the Communists denounced this as a “democratic coup.”

On Monday 25 March, the head of the Renaissance (Renew) list Valérie Hayer also hinted that if the National Assembly rejected the agreement, France might not notify Brussels, so the provisional agreement could continue.

Though the French government opposes a trade agreement with countries in the Latin America common market (Mercosur),  it has always defended the agreement with Canada, “A French-speaking democracy that is a friend of France, with which we share international battles on the environment, social rights, and human rights,” said Riesterin the interview.

The minister explained that he was awaiting an assessment of the economic, social, and environmental impact of the agreement by the European Commission, scheduled for 2025.

After that, Riester and Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau plan to write to the Commission’s executive vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis, “to take stock of the situation.”

French parliament split ahead of EU-Canada trade agreement vote

French parliamentarians are sharply divided on whether or not to ratify the EU-Canada free trade agreement, following farming protestors’ heavy condemnation of trade measures that they argue create unfair competition.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Rajnish Singh]

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