The Canadian Press reports, “Canada and the European Union are still far apart in deciding how much power investors should have under their pending free-trade agreement. …The EU and Canada can’t agree on wording that determines how much leeway governments should have to pass laws that may inadvertently infringe on the activities of investors. The investment chapter is central to the free-trade talks, since both sides have vowed to make the agreement as broad and all-encompassing as possible.”
“The Canada-EU agreement ‘could create the absurd situation where European companies have more rights in Canada than Canadian law allows, and give Canadian companies the same supra-legal rights in Europe,’ says Stuart Trew, trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians.”
Despite the areas where there isn’t agreement, “…The documents also show both sides are close to agreeing on what limitations they are not allowed to impose on each other’s investors. Governments won’t be allowed to impose capital requirements, set employment targets, restrict investors to joint ventures only, or set quotas for production.”
The article concludes, “Both Canada and the EU had hoped to have their agreement finalized by the end of 2012, but investment issues along with a lack of agreement on pharmaceuticals, beef, autos, procurement and financial services still stand in their way.”
For more, please see:
NEWS: Council of Canadians leaks CETA draft on financial services
Canada’s banking regulations under attack in EU trade deal
