Farm concerns trip up trade deal
France’s Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject legislation to ratify a 2017 trade deal between the European Union and Canada that has been criticized by farmers as bringing unfair competition from abroad.
The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provisionally went into ef- fect in September 2017 after all EU governments agreed to it, but its full implementation requires ap- proval by each national parliament.
Thursday’s 211-44 vote in the Senate does not neces- sarily mean that France ultimately will reject rat- ification. The vote sends the bill back to the powerful National Assembly, which had approved it in 2019 and can still move to override the Senate rejection and give final approval to the measure.
But Macron’s centrist alliance, which has advocated for the adoption of the CETA agreement, lost its major- ity at the lower house in 2022, making the outcome of a new vote uncertain. If the Assembly should reject the legislation during its second vote, it would signal France’s failure to ratify and could unravel the deal.
In the Senate, opposition from both the conservative majority and leftist legislators centred on concerns about shielding local farmers from what they consider unfair competition and protecting France’s food sover- eignty. The Assembly has not yet set a date to consider the legislation.
The ratification process across the EU has been slow, with France and nine other countries, including Italy and Belgium, not yet giving their approval.
There have been significant increases in trade vol- ume between the EU and Canada since the trade deal provisionally went into effect. From 2017 to 2023, trade between the two jumped by 51 per cent, with French exports to Canada rising by 33 per cent.
Despite these economic gains, CETA has faced crit- icism, including over its impact on European farmers and the environment. Critics argue it could undermine local agriculture and increase greenhouse gas emis- sions due to more transport of goods.
CETA aims to eventually eliminate nearly 99 per cent of tariffs. It includes special recognition for certain European products like Agen prunes and Savoie reblo- chon.
French senators’ vote comes after farmers across France and Europe demonstrated on their tractors earlier this year in protests over low earnings, heavy regulation and what they call unfair competition from abroad, often criticizing free-trade agreements, in- cluding the CETA.