The French Senate on Thursday opposed the ratification of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (CETA, CETA in English) by a first vote in the hemicycle, thanks to a left-right alliance of circumstance.
In an extremely tense climate, senators rejected by 211 votes to 44 the article of the bill relating to this treaty. This vote will only be confirmed if the Senate completes the examination of this ratification bill within a very short period of time on Thursday.
Signed in 2016, adopted in 2017 at the European level, CETA was narrowly validated in the National Assembly in 2019. But the government had never referred it to the Senate, a necessary step in the process.
CETA, which notably eliminates customs duties on 98% of products traded between the European Union and Canada, is strongly criticized, in particular by French breeders who report meat imports at cost prices much lower than theirs and with less strict methods than those to which they are subject.
Currently, ten member states have not completed the ratification process and only one has rejected it: Cyprus. But Nicosia never notified this rejection, which allows the agreement to continue to apply.
Further details will follow.
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