ΑΝΟΙΓΕΙ Ο ΔΡΟΜΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΙΣ ΥΠΟΓΡΑΦΕΣ! Πράσινο φως από τη Βαλλονία για τη CETA

Μήπως για άλλη μια φορά, τα πράγματα δεν είναι όπως μας τα παρουσιάζουν;
We were all holding our breath during Wallonia’s valiant battle against the concentrated power of the EU’s free trade lobby. Reading today’s headlines, you might think Wallonia has finally given in to CETA.

No, they have not. The EU-Canada trade deal is now further from being approved than it was 10 days ago.

In the new agreement, four of Belgium’s seven governments clearly say that they will not ratify CETA if there are no changes to ICS, the special court for foreign investors. Should the EU and Canada want to disarm this ticking time bomb, they will have to agree on some substantial, legally binding changes.

Do the CETA CHECK!
Belgium will also request a legal opinion of the European Court of Justice on ICS, meeting one of our long-standing demands. Just last week, we published a joint declaration of over 100 European legal experts who seriously doubt if ICS and ISDS are compatible with EU law.

So if you feel like celebrating an important victory from our resistance, this looks like the right time to do so.

We’ve shaken the EU’s schedule of CETA’s approval. Instead of nice pictures with Trudeau, Juncker and Malmström clinking their Champagne glasses, many of today’s headlines talk about why citizens, entrepreneurs, trade unions and over 2000 local & regional councils across the European Union are opposing CETA. This is a big breakthrough moment for all of us.

However, the fight is not over yet! The Belgian declaration might cause some headache in the Council for the coming days and loom, as the sword of Damocles, over the ratification procedure, but it won’t halt the machinery.

Next station for CETA is the European Parliament.