The French Senate has overwhelmingly rejected the EU-Canada trade agreement, which has been provisionally in force since 2017, due to its potential impact on French livestock, signalling further difficulties for its final ratification by the EU.
The bill on the economic and trade aspects of CETA, the trade agreement between Canada and the European Union (EU), was rejected by 255 votes to 211 in the Senate on Thursday (21 March).
The communist group of senators behind the vote applauded ‘a great victory’ and ‘all those who reject the logic of free trade agreements that exacerbate competition between peoples’.
Unusually for such an issue, the conservative Les républicains joined forces with the left to oppose the deal.
The government accused opponents of exploiting farmers’ discontent and the European election campaign to highlight this sensitive issue.
Since the beginning of the farmers’ protests in Europe, free trade agreements have been one of the main culprits, accused of sacrificing European agriculture in favour of industrial products and services.
The agreement was voted through by the French National Assembly in 2019, with President Emmanuel Macron holding an absolute majority.
Since then, the government has refused to allow the other chamber to vote, a condition for France to ratify its agreement with Brussels.
Although the purely commercial part of the agreement has been in force since 2017, full ratification of CETA requires the approval of all 27 EU member states. So far, 17 EU countries, including Germany, have given the green light, while France and Cyprus have refused to ratify.
During the debates before the vote, the government, represented by Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester, denounced the “misinformation” that opponents had been spreading for several days, especially about the impact of CETA.
The minister insisted that the agreement was good for the French economy, businesses, agriculture and strategic relations with Canada.
Proof of this, he said, was the 33% increase in French exports to Canada over six years in all sectors, from chemicals to cosmetics and steel. The agri-food sector, at the centre of the debate, has tripled its exports. Cheese exports rose by 60%.
Above all, Riester dismissed fears about the risks of importing Canadian beef treated with hormones or antibiotics. This is “misinformation”, he said, adding that Canada does not currently export beef to France.
Senator and farmer Laurent Duplomb (Les Républicains) challenged the government’s rhetoric, arguing that “the 33% increase in exports is expressed in value [not volume] and more than half is artificially inflated by inflation”.
According to the Veblen Institute, which has criticised CETA, the volume of trade in goods will increase by just 0.7% between 2017 and 2022.
“As a result, in 2035, CETA will generate $4 per European resident per year, compared to $313 per Canadian citizen per year,” Duplomb claimed.
Duplomb also condemned the “silence of the European Commission”, whose inspections in Canada in 2019 and 2022 revealed shortcomings in animal traceability.
