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CETA

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was concluded in 2014 between the European Union and Canada. It entered into provisional application in September 2017.

The agreement covers most aspects of new generation trade deals, including intellectual property, public procurements, regulatory cooperation, services and elimination of tariffs.

It also includes an investment chapter with a revised investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, dubbed investment court system. Many critics on both sides of the Atlantic say that this new system is largely window-dressing and does not address the core of the problem behind investor-state dispute measures which enable foreign corporations to sue states if they deem their profits or investment potentials affected by new laws or changes in policy.

Photo: Council of Canadians

(March 2020)

Réforme de l’arbitrage d’investissement : « tout changer pour que rien ne change »
Collectif Stop TAFTA | 17-Sep-2015
Visant à rendre l’ISDS acceptable, les modifications de forme proposées menacent d’étendre considérablement le champ de cette justice aux services des multinationales
actions | resistance , Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
European Commission admits defeat in trying to improve corporate sovereignty chapter in CETA
Tech Dirt | 4-Sep-2015
The excitement over the mad dash to finish TPP — and the failure to do so — has rather obscured the other so-called trade deals currently being negotiated, such as TAFTA/TTIP and the one between the EU and Canada, CETA.
Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Libre-échange Canada-Union européenne : La France ne signera pas sans modifications
Le Devoir | 29-Jun-2015
Pour le secrétaire d’État au Commerce extérieur, Matthias Fekl, qui exprime la position officielle de la France, c’est non seulement une question de principe mais une réalité aujourd’hui incontournable.
Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Future of ISDS in TTIP and beyond. Is now the time for reform?
Lexology | 19-Jun-2015
A consensus is clearly forming around changes and adjustments needed to reform ISDS, but the main stakeholders – businesses and governments – have yet to make a clear stand, argue Adrian-Catalin Bulboaca and Marius Iliescu
Canada , EU , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
EU arts policies could lead to ISDS lawsuits, admits German government
Ars Technica UK | 3-Jun-2015
The German federal government has admitted that an EU country’s arts policies could lead to it being sued by foreign corporations before investor tribunals under trade agreements being negotiated with Canada and the US.
Canada , culture , EU , Germany , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
The EESC opposes ISDS in TTIP and CETA and calls for an International Investment Court
EESC | 29-May-2015
The European Economic and Social Committee, in its opinion adopted on 27 May, opposes the inclusion of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) or in the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), as it believes such a system has the potential to derail both agreements.
Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
Libre échange: accueil mitigé des eurodéputés pour un mécanisme d’arbitrage amélioré
Belga | 7-May-2015
La proposition de la commissaire européenne au Commerce, Cecilia Malmström, pour améliorer les procédures d’arbitrage (ISDS) entre États et multinationales dans le cadre de l’accord de libre-échange UE/États-Unis a reçu un accueil mitigé mercredi au Parlement européen.
Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
MEPs unimpressed with Commission’s ISDS proposal
EurActiv | 7-May-2015
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström tried to convince MEPs that there are ways to keep the Investment-State Dispute Settlement in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership deal. But unimpressed lawmakers failed to greet it as a full-fledged reform.
Canada , EU , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
Canada-EU trade deal faces more tinkering
Macleans | 6-May-2015
Mission accomplished? Not quite. American negotiations with Europe may trigger more changes to CETA
Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
A parade of reforms: The European Commission’s latest proposal for ISDS
Social Sciences Research Network | 6-May-2015
The European Commission’s most recent proposal for ISDS reflects a move away from fake reforms to something potentially more meaningful, but it is insufficient and unreliable, says legal expert Gus Van Harten.
Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS