Vancouver, BC – Written on February 20th, 2024 – On February 9th, 2024, the Executive Vice-President (EVP) and European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, and the Canadian Minister for Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, the Honourable Mary Ng, co-chaired the 4th Joint Committee of the European Union-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in the European Commission found at Rue de la Loi 170/Wetstraat 170, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, Belgium.
The Co-Chairs sent a clear message that seven years into its provisional application, CETA’s benefits to our economies are ever more evident and continue to expand. Since CETA’s provisional implementation in September 2017, two-way trade in goods has increased by more than 50%, and continues to grow steadily. CETA has provided equally important positive impacts on EU-Canada two-way trade in services and bilateral investment flows. This ever-deepening economic relationship has made the EU and Canada more resilient and has delivered benefits to businesses, small and large, and people across our communities through job creation, sustainable inclusive economic growth, and economic resiliency.
In a period of global geopolitical uncertainty, CETA’s positive performance underscores the fundamental importance of rules-based trade, underpinned by shared values and principles. CETA has enabled further diversification in key sectors and supply chains, including the energy sector and critical raw materials, specifically in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
CETA has become the foundation for the EU-Canada economic, trade and investment relationship, and contributes significantly to our cooperation, innovation, and competitiveness on the global stage.
Discussions at today’s Joint Committee emphasized our shared commitment to leveraging CETA to its full potential, ensuring that our businesses and people continue to garner its benefits. The Co-Chairs also reiterated their deep-rooted shared commitment to working together to advance WTO reform, notably to ensure a successful outcome at MC13 and uphold the core principles of the rules-based multilateral trading system.
EVP Dombrovskis and Minister Ng took stock of the work and progress made under CETA and its Committees and Dialogues and the noteworthy progress achieved on four key initiatives.
Firstly, the Co-Chairs announced agreement on an ‘Interpretation on Investment‘. This Interpretation clarifies elements of investment provisions under CETA, notably “fair and equitable treatment”, “indirect expropriation” and “investment and climate change”. This agreement further clarifies that the Parties can regulate in the framework of climate, energy, and health policies to achieve legitimate public objectives. The Co-Chairs confirmed that the text of the Interpretation has been approved in substance and committed to the timely final adoption through the Joint Committee by written procedure once the linguistic review of all authentic languages under CETA has been completed. The Co-Chairs agreed to publish the text of the Interpretation in their official languages for transparency and information purposes.
Secondly, the Co-Chairs announced the conclusion of negotiations at technical level on the text establishing rules to facilitate access of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to investment dispute resolution under CETA. Ultimately, these rules will enhance the ability of SMEs to participate and benefit from the opportunities created by CETA. The Co-Chairs declared their shared commitment to work expeditiously towards finalisation of all steps necessary to enable a timely adoption of these rules by the CETA Joint Committee.
Thirdly, the Co-Chairs welcomed progress towards the adoption of a CETA Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for professional qualifications of architects, by the CETA Committee on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications. The Co-Chairs called on the Committee to work expeditiously towards its adoption. This agreement will be the first of its kind under CETA and will further demonstrate that CETA delivers tangible benefits for professionals and small businesses, as it will facilitate the process of seeking recognition for professional qualifications across the EU and Canada for our respective architects.
Fourthly, the Co-Chairs welcomed progress regarding the extension of the operational scope of the CETA protocol on the mutual recognition of the compliance and enforcement programme regarding good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products (the GMP Protocol). The Co-Chairs endorsed the initiation of the process for a Joint Committee decision that will extend the scope of the GMP Protocol by including active pharmaceutical ingredients in the product scope. This would allow the mutual recognition of inspections and acceptance of official documents for active pharmaceutical ingredients, and thus reduce costs resulting from duplicative inspections. This change is expected to particularly benefit micro, small and medium-sized enterprise, and to contribute to greater pharmaceutical supply chain resilience.
As regards the ongoing work under CETA’s Committees and Dialogues, the Co-Chairs positively noted the strong engagement of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development, and the ongoing work which reflects the strong cooperation in the areas of both labour and environment. Specifically, the Co-Chairs welcomed the work in the Committee to continue promoting the use of carbon pricing globally and to further develop bilateral engagement in the context of the implementation phase of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms. The Co-Chairs equally recognized the TSD Committee’s potential role in contributing to the future success of the EU-Canada Green Alliance.
Looking ahead, the Co-Chairs also took note of the ongoing progress towards ratification of CETA by all 27 EU Member States and encouraged further progress notably to enable the full application of CETA.
The rest of the article can be found here: https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/joint-statement-sustainable-economic-growth-eu-and-canada-through-comprehensive-economic-and-trade-2024-02-09_en. It starts with: Joint Statement: Sustainable economic growth in the EU and Canada through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
Discussed in 2022:
The EU and Canada exchanged views on several joint updates concerning the following points:
Canada presented the conclusions of the CETA Wine and Spirits Committee and thanked Committee officials for their hard work and collaborative approach in preparing the report. The report highlights that the work of the Committee has led to positive results. For example, Canada noted that imports of EU beverage alcohol in Canada grew by 18%, from CAD$2.1 billion in 2017 to CAD$2.5 billion in 2021, a positive outcome that should be promoted by both Parties.
The EU side reiterated its concern that the Canadian Luxury tax is de facto discriminatory against European vehicles and boats. The EU asked Canada to review the tax. Furthermore, according to the EU it would be counterproductive in the fight against climate change to subject electric vehicles to such a tax given the fact that electric vehicles are generally more expensive, and their uptake should be encouraged. The EU industry estimates that around 30% of EU manufactured vehicle sales in Canada would be affected every year. The EU requested that the Canadian Revenue Agency share information on what vehicles are subject to the luxury tax to prove that the tax is not discriminatory as Canada claimed.
Canada stressed the common interest on both sides regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) legislation notably regulatory measures to ensure that AI systems do not cause harm and to enable Canadian and EU firms to remain competitive vis-à-vis larger multinational companies. Canada outlined its suggestions for targeted modifications to the EU AI Act: firstly, strengthening the use of international standards. Secondly, an explicit reference in the Act that non-EU micro and small AI companies would have access to AI regulatory sandboxes on the same priority basis as small EU companies. Thirdly, limitations on requests to provide source code as part of the conformity assessment process. Fourthly, requiring the European Standardization Organizations to take into consideration the needs of micro and small firms when developing the standards implementing the extensive record-keeping requirements. The EU stated that artificial intelligence is one of the key elements of technological progress in the coming decades and a key requirement for industrial competitiveness across many sectors.
More information
- Draft Interpretation of the CETA Joint Committee regarding Article 8.10, Annex 8-A, Article 8.9 and Article 8.39 of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
- Factsheet – European Union trade with Canada under CETA
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