ESC applauds the approval of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade agreement (CETA) by the European Parliament on 15 February 2017. This agreement will reduce the red tape in international trade, make the procedures more agile, and, by mutual recognition of procedures, will open new possibilities to exporters and importers. If CETA enters into force it will also break the psychological barrier that prevents the EU from concluding trade agreements.
Now the next step is for the EU national parliaments to accept the agreement, as it is a so-called mixed agreement, i.e. it contains elements that are under the national sovereignty of the Member States. Provided the smooth acceptance of the agreement by the national governments, the CETA can provisionally enter into force end of April/beginning of May 2017.
EU is also looking for a new agreement with Mexico, another USA neighbouring country. President Trump has not yet taken a formal position on the continuation of TTIP, the trade agreement between USA and EU.