Draft Irish legislation to ratify EU-Canada trade deal approved
Tánaiste Simon Harris has secured Cabinet approval for the drafting of legislation which will allow for the ratification of the controversial EU-Canada trade deal.
The Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement is a deal reached between the EU and Canada which requires the backing of parliaments across all the EU member states to be fully operational.
The provisional application of CETA has already led to an increase in bilateral trade in goods and services with Canada, which went from €3.2 billion in 2016 to more than €10bn in 2023.
It is understood Mr Harris argued that CETA is an important part of Ireland's economic diversification strategy, which has been brought into sharp focus by US President Donald Trump's threat to introduce 50% tariffs on EU goods.
He believes that Canada shares similar concerns to Ireland and is a reliable and valued trading partner for the country.
If the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill is enacted by the Oireachtas, it would enable the ratification of CETA and similar deals with third countries that include investment protection provisions.
However, Opposition parties are concerned that CETA contains a system of investor state courts, which they argue will have serious negative ramifications on national regulation as it sets up a court outside our own domestic system.
In particular, they contend that CETA would enable large corporations to sue countries if regulations hinder those companies' ability to trade.
In November 2022, the Supreme Court ruled by a majority of four to three that the Constitution precludes the ratification of the deal.
The court also ruled by a majority of six to one that if certain amendments were made to legislation then the deal could be ratified without breaching the constitution.
However, the then coalition of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party did not legislate to overcome those legal concerns amid internal divisions.
The legal case against CETA had been brought by the then-Green Party TD Patrick Costello.
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