On the occasion of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Canada in August 2022, and ahead of the announced ratification of the EU–Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by the German parliament, the CCPA joined nearly 50 Canadian and German civil society organisations on a joint statement expressing opposition to CETA and particular concern with the agreement's proposed Investment Court System (ICS).
As the statement explains, while most parts of CETA have been provisionally applied in Europe and Canada for nearly five years, the ICS would grant foreign investors the privilege to sue states before a private arbitration tribunal instead of in national courts when public policies affect their ability to profit. This chapter would come into effect only after full ratification of CETA in all EU member states.
ICS, just like any other investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) process, poses an immense threat to parliaments’ sovereign policy-making, in particular our ability to quickly and affordably tackle climate change or raise social or environmental protections. Germany's ruling coalition recently announced its intention to ratify CETA with minor “interpretative” notes to the agreement text—a process which German civil society groups condemn.
The full German-Canadian joint statement with list of signatories can be found on the Trade Justice Network website.
For more information on the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), see "Taking Stock of CETA," by Scott Sinclair and Stuart Trew (Oct. 2019), "International Regulatory Cooperation and the Public Good," by Stuart Trew (May 2019), and "The Risks of Rushing CETA," by Ellen Gould (Dec. 2016), among other reports on the agreement that can be found on the CCPA website.