While CETA will likely soon be provisionally applied, TTIP will almost certainly not be concluded this year.
On September 23, 2016, EU trade commissioner Malmström and Slovakia’s minister of economy, Ziga, met in Bratislava, where they stated that the TTIP negotiations will continue until January 2016, after which there will be a break as the Obama administration leaves office. During this break a new American trade representative will be appointed by the Senate, which will take between five and six months. The upcoming elections in France and Germany, where anti-TTIP sentiment rises, will complicate resuming the negotiations. The next round of TTIP negotiations will take place in New York from the 3rd until the 7th of October, 2016.
With regard to CETA, the Commission had granted Member States the power to ratify the deal due to national pressure. These national ratifications will, however, take a long time. Therefore, the Commission suggested to provisionally apply the Treaty after it has required the approval of the European Parliament and Council to speed up CETA’s application. Currently, experts are analyzing which clauses could be provisionally applied.
Both trade deals would lead to significant gains for European shippers as they significantly reduce trade barriers, including tariffs.