BETA


2011/2623(RSP) Resolution on EU-Canada trade relations

Progress: Procedure completed

Legal Basis:
RoP 136-p5

Events

2011/10/24
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2011/06/08
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2011/06/08
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

Following the debate which took place during the sitting of 6 June 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on International Trade on EU-Canada trade relations.

It notes that the current negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) aim at a very advanced agreement, exceeding in its level of ambition any trade and economic agreement negotiated either by the EU or by Canada to date, that could reinforce the already strong bilateral trade and investment relationship even further. Whilst reaffirming support for the multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO, Members welcome an agreement with Canada going beyond the WTO commitments and being complementary to multilateral rules, provided that the negotiations produce a balanced, ambitious, high-quality agreement that goes well beyond tariff reductions. They call for the reciprocity principle to be applied in the context of the legal remedies available in the event of commercial disputes and emphasise the need to improve the protection of intellectual property rights including trademarks, patents and geographical indications and to obtain genuinely reciprocal access to the market, especially to services and public procurement markets (including at sub-federal level). The chapter on intellectual property should not negatively affect the production of generic medicines and must respect the TRIPs exceptions for public health.

Parliament welcomes the progress made in the CETA negotiations and calls on the Commission to carry out as soon as possible a comprehensive sustainability impact assessment evaluating the foreseeable sectoral implications and socioeconomic consequences for the EU arising from the final agreement. It notes that competence for EU-Canada relations resides at the federal level alone, but, since the Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for implementing the treaty obligations that fall within their jurisdiction, considers essential, and welcomes, their participation in the CETA negotiations and encourages the provinces and territories to synchronise policies and procedures to allow potential gains to be maximised. A successful negotiation should include explicit commitments from provincial and territorial governments.

Parliament notes, not without concern, that the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for modifying the negotiating directives authorising the Commission to negotiate with Canada on investment without waiting for Parliament to adopt its position on the future EU investment policy in general. It calls on the Commission to take fully into account the conclusion of the European Parliament on this subject in its negotiations on investment with Canada. Given the highly developed legal systems of Canada and the EU, a state-to-state dispute settlement mechanism and the use of local judicial remedies are the most appropriate tools to address investment disputes. Members call on the Commission to ensure that a potential investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism does not inhibit future legislation in sensitive policy areas, such as environmental legislation, and is embedded in broader requirements as outlined in Parliament's resolution on future European international investment policy.

Parliament expresses concern about the following issues:

the continued mining of asbestos in Canada and its grave impact on workers' health. Members recall that the EU has banned all use, extraction and processing of asbestos and manufacture of asbestos products, and they call on Canada to take similar action in order to improve public health; the impact of the extraction of oil sand on the global environment due to the high level of CO2 emissions during its production process and the threat it poses to local biodiversity. Members feel that the CETA negotiations should not affect the EU's right to legislate in the fuel quality directive or inhibit the ability of the Canadian authorities to introduce future environmental standards concerning the extraction of oil sands. They encourage both parties to resolve any disagreements amicably and without endangering the CETA negotiations; the recent legal developments regarding the EU's ban on seal products, in particular Canada's request to the WTO for the establishment of a formal dispute resolution panel. Members expect the Commission to remain firm on the EU's stance regarding the ban on seal products, and they express strong hope that Canada will withdraw the WTO challenge, which runs counter to positive trade relations, prior to the need for ratification of the CETA agreement by the European Parliament.

Members also make the following points:

the Commission is asked to exclude from the scope of investment agreements sensitive sectors such as culture, education, national defence and public health; with regard to the agriculture chapters, Members are concerned about possibly substantial concessions in the area of GMOs, milk and origin labelling, and call on the Commission to negotiate an agreement which will be beneficial to EU and Canadian consumers and to the agricultural sectors on both sides as well, and ensure, within a balanced overall outcome, greater – but fair – competition among EU and Canadian suppliers to provide agricultural goods. They welcome the initial commitment from both parties not to maintain, introduce or reintroduce agricultural export subsidies on the agricultural goods traded.

Lastly, Parliament reminds the Council and Commission that, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Council has been required to obtain the consent of Parliament for all international trade agreements and both the Council and the Commission have been required to keep Parliament immediately and fully informed at all stages of the procedure. It calls on the Council to provide Parliament immediately with all information in the stages of the procedure for which it is responsible and to keep Parliament involved at all stages of the negotiations and to take Parliament's views fully into account.

Documents
2011/06/08
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2011/06/06
   EP - Debate in Parliament
Details

O-000053/2011

2011/05/26
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2011/04/07
   EP - Oral question/interpellation by Parliament
Documents

Documents

Activities

Votes

B7-0344/2011 - Am 10 #

2011/06/08 Outcome: +: 337, -: 315, 0: 11
FR DE EL NL BE IE EE IT GB FI DK CY CZ AT MT LT SI SK SE ES BG RO LV LU PT HU PL
Total
68
95
21
24
18
10
5
62
62
13
12
6
20
16
4
12
7
13
18
42
15
30
6
6
15
19
43
icon: S&D S&D
162

Netherlands S&D

3

Estonia S&D

For (1)

1

Finland S&D

2

Malta S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Bulgaria S&D

3

Luxembourg S&D

Against (1)

1

Portugal S&D

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
51

Greece Verts/ALE

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

Abstain (1)

4

Finland Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Austria Verts/ALE

2
3

Spain Verts/ALE

2

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
73

Greece ALDE

1

Estonia ALDE

2

Denmark ALDE

For (1)

3

Lithuania ALDE

Abstain (1)

2

Slovenia ALDE

2

Slovakia ALDE

For (1)

1

Sweden ALDE

Abstain (1)

4

Spain ALDE

2

Luxembourg ALDE

Against (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
34

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Ireland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

1

Spain GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Latvia GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

4
icon: EFD EFD
24

France EFD

Against (1)

1

Greece EFD

Against (1)

2

Netherlands EFD

Against (1)

1

Finland EFD

Abstain (1)

1

Denmark EFD

Against (1)

1

Lithuania EFD

2

Slovakia EFD

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
25

Belgium NI

2

Spain NI

1

Bulgaria NI

2

Romania NI

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Hungary NI

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
49

Netherlands ECR

For (1)

1

Belgium ECR

Against (1)

1

Denmark ECR

Against (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

Against (1)

1

Latvia ECR

Against (1)

1

Hungary ECR

Against (1)

1
icon: PPE PPE
244

Ireland PPE

3

Estonia PPE

Against (1)

1

Denmark PPE

Against (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

2

Czechia PPE

Against (1)

2

Malta PPE

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Slovenia PPE

3

Luxembourg PPE

3

B7-0344/2011 - Am 2 #

2011/06/08 Outcome: +: 349, -: 314, 0: 6
EL FR DE NL BE FI DK AT IE MT ES EE IT CY LT SI SK CZ SE BG LV PT GB RO LU HU PL
Total
21
68
95
24
20
13
13
17
10
4
45
5
64
6
12
7
13
19
18
15
7
14
60
29
6
19
44
icon: S&D S&D
166

Netherlands S&D

3

Finland S&D

2

Malta S&D

2

Estonia S&D

For (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

2

Bulgaria S&D

3

Latvia S&D

1

Portugal S&D

1

Luxembourg S&D

Against (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
53

Greece Verts/ALE

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Spain Verts/ALE

2

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
3

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

Abstain (1)

4

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
74

Greece ALDE

1

Denmark ALDE

For (1)

3

Spain ALDE

2

Estonia ALDE

2

Lithuania ALDE

Abstain (1)

2

Slovenia ALDE

2

Slovakia ALDE

For (1)

1

Sweden ALDE

Abstain (1)

4

Luxembourg ALDE

Against (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
32

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Ireland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Spain GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

1

Latvia GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

3

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1
icon: EFD EFD
25

Greece EFD

2

France EFD

Against (1)

1

Netherlands EFD

Against (1)

1

Finland EFD

For (1)

1

Denmark EFD

1

Lithuania EFD

2

Slovakia EFD

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
25

Belgium NI

2

Spain NI

1

Bulgaria NI

2

United Kingdom NI

Against (1)

5

Romania NI

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Hungary NI

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
49

Netherlands ECR

For (1)

1

Belgium ECR

Against (1)

1

Denmark ECR

Against (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

Against (1)

1

Latvia ECR

Against (1)

1

Hungary ECR

Against (1)

1
icon: PPE PPE
244

Denmark PPE

Against (1)

1

Ireland PPE

3

Malta PPE

2

Estonia PPE

Against (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

3

Czechia PPE

Against (1)

2

Luxembourg PPE

3

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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date
2011-06-08T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0257_EN.html title: T7-0257/2011
summary
events/2
date
2011-06-08T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0257_EN.html title: T7-0257/2011
summary
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 136-p5
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 128-p5
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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0257_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2011-06-06T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110606&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2011-06-08T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=20254&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-257 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0257/2011 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
commission
  • body: EC dg: Trade commissioner: DE GUCHT Karel
committees
    docs
    • date: 2011-04-07T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B7-2011-213&language=EN title: B7-0213/2011 type: Oral question/interpellation by Parliament body: EP
    • date: 2011-05-26T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B7-2011-344&language=EN title: B7-0344/2011 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2011-10-24T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=20254&j=0&l=en title: SP(2011)8071 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
    events
    • date: 2011-06-06T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110606&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament summary: O-000053/2011
    • date: 2011-06-08T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=20254&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
    • date: 2011-06-08T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-257 title: T7-0257/2011 summary: Following the debate which took place during the sitting of 6 June 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on International Trade on EU-Canada trade relations. It notes that the current negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) aim at a very advanced agreement, exceeding in its level of ambition any trade and economic agreement negotiated either by the EU or by Canada to date, that could reinforce the already strong bilateral trade and investment relationship even further. Whilst reaffirming support for the multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO, Members welcome an agreement with Canada going beyond the WTO commitments and being complementary to multilateral rules, provided that the negotiations produce a balanced, ambitious, high-quality agreement that goes well beyond tariff reductions. They call for the reciprocity principle to be applied in the context of the legal remedies available in the event of commercial disputes and emphasise the need to improve the protection of intellectual property rights including trademarks, patents and geographical indications and to obtain genuinely reciprocal access to the market, especially to services and public procurement markets (including at sub-federal level). The chapter on intellectual property should not negatively affect the production of generic medicines and must respect the TRIPs exceptions for public health. Parliament welcomes the progress made in the CETA negotiations and calls on the Commission to carry out as soon as possible a comprehensive sustainability impact assessment evaluating the foreseeable sectoral implications and socioeconomic consequences for the EU arising from the final agreement. It notes that competence for EU-Canada relations resides at the federal level alone, but, since the Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for implementing the treaty obligations that fall within their jurisdiction, considers essential, and welcomes, their participation in the CETA negotiations and encourages the provinces and territories to synchronise policies and procedures to allow potential gains to be maximised. A successful negotiation should include explicit commitments from provincial and territorial governments. Parliament notes, not without concern, that the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for modifying the negotiating directives authorising the Commission to negotiate with Canada on investment without waiting for Parliament to adopt its position on the future EU investment policy in general. It calls on the Commission to take fully into account the conclusion of the European Parliament on this subject in its negotiations on investment with Canada. Given the highly developed legal systems of Canada and the EU, a state-to-state dispute settlement mechanism and the use of local judicial remedies are the most appropriate tools to address investment disputes. Members call on the Commission to ensure that a potential investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism does not inhibit future legislation in sensitive policy areas, such as environmental legislation, and is embedded in broader requirements as outlined in Parliament's resolution on future European international investment policy. Parliament expresses concern about the following issues: the continued mining of asbestos in Canada and its grave impact on workers' health. Members recall that the EU has banned all use, extraction and processing of asbestos and manufacture of asbestos products, and they call on Canada to take similar action in order to improve public health; the impact of the extraction of oil sand on the global environment due to the high level of CO2 emissions during its production process and the threat it poses to local biodiversity. Members feel that the CETA negotiations should not affect the EU's right to legislate in the fuel quality directive or inhibit the ability of the Canadian authorities to introduce future environmental standards concerning the extraction of oil sands. They encourage both parties to resolve any disagreements amicably and without endangering the CETA negotiations; the recent legal developments regarding the EU's ban on seal products, in particular Canada's request to the WTO for the establishment of a formal dispute resolution panel. Members expect the Commission to remain firm on the EU's stance regarding the ban on seal products, and they express strong hope that Canada will withdraw the WTO challenge, which runs counter to positive trade relations, prior to the need for ratification of the CETA agreement by the European Parliament. Members also make the following points: the Commission is asked to exclude from the scope of investment agreements sensitive sectors such as culture, education, national defence and public health; with regard to the agriculture chapters, Members are concerned about possibly substantial concessions in the area of GMOs, milk and origin labelling, and call on the Commission to negotiate an agreement which will be beneficial to EU and Canadian consumers and to the agricultural sectors on both sides as well, and ensure, within a balanced overall outcome, greater – but fair – competition among EU and Canadian suppliers to provide agricultural goods. They welcome the initial commitment from both parties not to maintain, introduce or reintroduce agricultural export subsidies on the agricultural goods traded. Lastly, Parliament reminds the Council and Commission that, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Council has been required to obtain the consent of Parliament for all international trade agreements and both the Council and the Commission have been required to keep Parliament immediately and fully informed at all stages of the procedure. It calls on the Council to provide Parliament immediately with all information in the stages of the procedure for which it is responsible and to keep Parliament involved at all stages of the negotiations and to take Parliament's views fully into account.
    • date: 2011-06-08T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
    links
    other
    • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/ title: Trade commissioner: DE GUCHT Karel
    procedure/legal_basis/0
    Rules of Procedure EP 128-p5
    procedure/legal_basis/0
    Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 128-p5
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    • 6.20.03 Bilateral economic and trade agreements and relations
    New
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    Bilateral economic and trade agreements and relations
    procedure/subtype
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    Debate or resolution on oral questions
    New
    Debate or resolution on oral question/interpellation
    activities
    • date: 2011-06-06T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110606&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
    • date: 2011-06-08T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=20254&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-257 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0257/2011 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
    committees
      links
      other
      • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/ title: Trade commissioner: DE GUCHT Karel
      procedure
      legal_basis
      Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 128-p5
      reference
      2011/2623(RSP)
      title
      Resolution on EU-Canada trade relations
      geographical_area
      Canada
      stage_reached
      Procedure completed
      subtype
      Debate or resolution on oral questions
      type
      RSP - Resolutions on topical subjects
      subject
      6.20.03 Bilateral economic and trade agreements and relations