At the recent Minister’s Trade Council meeting on the 13th May 2016, the Council had an exchange of views on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the process towards signature and provisional application of the agreement. The European Commission and Member States highlighted the high quality of the agreement reached with Canada and expressed the desire to work towards signature of the agreement at the October EU-Canada Summit. The Commission announced its intention to present a Council decision on signature of CETA before the end of June 2016.
The Council was informed about the latest developments regarding the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, including prospects for conclusion of the negotiations under the Obama administration. Member States considered that maintaining a high level of ambition in these negotiations was just as important as the ambitious timetable. They urged the Commission to advance the negotiations, whilst fully respecting its negotiating mandate and the EU interests.
The documentation referred to by the Deputy represent both the EU and the US’s negotiation positions and do not reflect the final outcome of the ongoing negotiations. The other matters referred to by the Deputy are matters for the National Parliaments of those countries.
