the communists will force a vote in the Assembly on the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada

The communist group in the Assembly is not letting go of the case against CETA, the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. A debate will take place on May 30 in the Assembly, as part of the environmentalist parliamentary niche.

On Tuesday, May 7, the communist deputies presented the texts that they had chosen to defend in the Assembly on May 30, the date on which they had control of the agenda. On the menu, there will be a debate on CETA, this trade agreement between Europe and Canada, rejected by the Senate at the end of March. The government had decided not to transmit this text to the Assembly before the European elections, to avoid another negative vote. “A subterfuge” denounced by the communists who speak of “contempt for democratic rules”but the PCF elected officials found a trick to organize a vote anyway.

Leave the Macronists alone against CETA

Failing to examine the CETA agreement as such, the communists are falling back on a proposed resolution which calls on the government to “continue the ratification process” of CETA, and therefore to get the deputies to vote. This resolution will not have binding value, but it is “the means of forcing the government to have a debate in the Assembly”, we slip into the communists. This debate will take place exactly 10 days before the European elections. This will be an opportunity for the left, but also the National Rally and the Republicans to redisplay their hostility to free trade agreements, leaving the Macronists alone, and in the minority, in defense of CETA.

At the Ministry of Foreign Trade, we are playing down the drama. We even say “so much the better”because “Franck Riester is ready to re-explain that CETA is a good agreement for our economy”, assures those around him. This will also be an opportunity for the minister to repeat to MPs that they will vote for or against CETA, provided they wait well beyond the European elections. The government first wants to launch a parliamentary mission on the reciprocity of production standards, and wait for an assessment from the European Commission on the economic, social and environmental impact of CETA. This evaluation is not expected before 2025. The government hopes that by this distant horizon, the debates will be more peaceful.