CETA – Again and Again

If it would be in the hands of the European Commission, then CETA would be a done deal. Rather then dealing with concerns of citizens and governments of some member states, the Commission would like to see CETA as a purely EU-trade deal that would not need individual ratification of all member states. For quite a while now, some member states – not least due to the pressure of trade unions and NGOs – se CETA as a mixed agreement, that is an agreement that entails elements where the EU has no right to make deals. National ratification would create problems, though, as some member states can be seen as shaky candidates, for a variety of reasons. Only recently Luxembourg informed the European public that it is no linger supporting CETA. The situation has changed, though, as the Italian government declared to no longer see CETA as a mixed agreement. This change of sentiment would allow the Commission to move along as the ratification now only needs a qualified majority in the European Parliament, and with the votes of Italy such a quorum can be achieved.

Yet in a time when the EU is under fire, not least due to the fact that more and more European citizens see their interests being neglected by Brussels, it would be not a very wise move on the side of the Commission to move down this path. Now, the Commission is known to have lost most of its political intelligence, and thus it may happen that CETA will be put on a non-democratic ratification path. Time will show.