France: the Senate rejects the Ceta free trade treaty between the EU and Canada
The French Senate opposed the ratification of the Ceta free trade treaty, between the European Union and Canada, on Thursday March 21, with a first vote in the hemicycle thanks to a convenient left-right alliance. Other European countries also seem to oppose this text, particularly in a context of agricultural discontent across the continent.
The French Senate, here on March 21, 2024. © Stéphane de Sakutin / AFP
By: RFI with agencies
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The treaty has been provisionally applied since 2017, but
never submitted to the upper house
. In an extremely tense climate, senators rejected by 211 votes to 44 the article of the bill relating to this treaty. They confirmed this rejection a few minutes later with a final vote.
Signed in 2016, adopted in 2017 at the European level, Ceta was narrowly validated
in the National Assembly in 2019
. But the government never referred the matter to the Senate, a necessary step in the process.
In this vote, the high assembly rejected article 1 of the Ceta ratification bill, an article relating to the economic and commercial dimension of the treaty. The Senate, however, approved the second and final article, relating to the strategic partnership between the EU and Canada by 243 votes to 26. The rejection is therefore recorded.
This rejection by the Senate alone is not enough to denounce the agreement on a European scale.
It is “
a political thunderbolt
”, a “
democratic victory
”, said communist senator Fabien Gay, calling on the government to continue the parliamentary shuttle.
“
Denial of democracy
”
“
Since 2019, the government has continued its denial of democracy by refusing to include it here
,” said communist Fabien Gay. Environmentalists, socialists and a large part of the senatorial right, the first group in the Senate, are in fact opposed to this treaty. “
There was once again contempt for the Senate and Parliament and we have not forgotten that,
” points out the leader of the Republicans, Bruno Retailleau.
The Minister for Foreign Trade Franck Riester denounced “
a crude maneuver, an unacceptable manipulation with serious consequences for our country
”. “
It is simply a political coup that the communists, the socialists, with the support of the Republicans, are carrying out in the middle of the European election campaign to the detriment of the general interest
,” he added.
For Greenpeace, the Senate vote “
demonstrates the isolation of Emmanuel Macron in his desperate pursuit of an ultra-liberal policy which leads us into a terrible social, democratic and environmental impasse
”.
Ceta, which notably removes customs duties on 98% of products traded between the European Union and Canada, is
strongly criticized, in particular by French breeders
, who maintain pressure on the government to obtain aid in the face of the crisis. of the sector: they denounce unfair competition, notably due to less restrictive health standards in Canada. A situation which also worries environmentalists.
Farmers also report meat imports at cost prices much lower than their own.
Farmers use a tractor decorated with a banner reading “No to Ceta”, near Mulhouse, eastern France, October 8, 2019. © Sébastien Bozon / AFP
The National Bovine Federation (FNB) welcomed the Senate vote in a press release, stressing that the agreement presents a risk because it favors “
imports of products that do not respect French and European production standards
”.
Complex equation vis-à-vis Brussels
Uncertainty now hangs over the continuation of the legislative process of the bill containing the Ceta treaty. Following their fellow senators, the communist deputies announced their intention to include it in their reserved parliamentary time - their "
niche
" scheduled for May 30 in the Assembly -, ten days before the European elections.
In 2019, deputies narrowly approved the ratification of Ceta, but the presidential camp has since lost the absolute majority in the Palais Bourbon, which raises fears of a new rejection.
On second reading, the text could be rejected in the National Assembly where the presidential camp does not have an absolute majority. This would then be a significant setback for the executive a few months before the European elections. In this scenario, the equation would then become very complex with regard to Brussels. If it is definitively rejected by parliament, the agreement would be called into question, since it is enough for one country to reject Ceta for its provisional application across Europe to end. But on condition that the country in question notifies the rejection of its parliament to Brussels. But Member States are not obliged to do so.
Currently, 9 other member states have not completed the ratification process. In addition, only one European country has rejected it, Cyprus, which never notified it of this rejection: this allows the agreement to continue to apply.
But it can also procrastinate, at the risk of attracting the wrath of oppositions who could cry out for democratic denial.
Another hypothesis is circulating among parliamentarians: since the executive has the power to transmit a bill from one chamber to another, it could not transmit the text to the National Assembly. This would de facto prevent it from being included on the agenda on May 30.
For wine and spirits exporters, this rejection is “
totally surreal
” and “
will deal a bad blow to the entire wine and spirits sector
,” declared the general delegate of the Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters. (FEVS). “
In
(this)
economically complicated moment, putting ourselves in a delicate position after good momentum
(since the implementation of the treaty)
seems totally surreal to us
,” Nicolas Ozanam explained to AFP. “
No matter how hard we look at the figures, we have not seen any negative effect on the agricultural sectors, the agri-food surplus has increased
,” he said.
Foreign sales of wines, champagnes, cognacs and other French spirits fell by 6% in 2023 after several years of growth, particularly to Canada.
Also read: Franck Riester: “Let’s not make CETA a scapegoat for the agricultural crisis”
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