David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that the proposed EU-Canada trade agreement is not implemented until it has been fully scrutinised by national parliaments.

Anna Soubry

The EU–Canada Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) could be worth up to £1.3 billion per year to the UK economy. The Government is therefore keen to see the agreement implemented as soon as possible.

The Government considers, along with other Member States, that CETA is a “mixed agreement”. This means that CETA can only take full effect once the UK has decided to ratify it. As part of that ratification process, the complete draft text of the agreement would be laid before Parliament for 21 sitting days. In addition, the Government will ensure the proposals for a Council decision on signature, and subsequently conclusion, will be subject to scrutiny in both houses of the UK Parliament.