Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
Canada (orange) and the European Union (green) | |
| Type | Trade agreement |
|---|---|
| Signed | 30 October 2016 |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Effective | Not in force (but provisional application of most of the agreement) |
| Condition | Approval by all signatories |
| Provisional application | 21 September 2017 |
| Signatories |
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| Ratifiers | Canada received royal assent and 17 EU member States ratified |
| Languages | |
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA; French: accord économique et commercial global, AECG; German: Umfassendes Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommen) is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union and its member states. It has been provisionally applied, thus removing 98% of the preexisting tariffs between the two parts.
The negotiations were concluded in August 2014. All 27 European Union member states and former member state United Kingdom approved the final text of CETA for signature, with Belgium being the final country to give its approval. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, travelled to Brussels on 30 October 2016 to sign on behalf of Canada. The European Parliament approved the deal on 15 February 2017. The agreement, being a mixed agreement, is subject to ratification by the EU and all EU member States in order to be fully applied. Until then, substantial parts are provisionally applied from 21 September 2017, excluding investment protection. After a challenge by Belgium, the European Court of Justice upheld the agreement on 30 April 2019, in its opinion 1/17, that the dispute resolution mechanism complies with EU law. As of 2023, only 17 of 27 EU countries have ratified (as did the United Kingdom before leaving the EU), and Cyprus has voted against ratification.