French Senate rejects EU-Canada trade deal

The EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed in October 2016 and has been provisionally in force since 2017. However, in order for it to come into force in full, it must be ratified by all EU member states.

In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron and his centrist allies in the parliament managed to get the agreement approved by the lower house of the parliament in the National Assembly, but ratification also requires the support of the upper house of the parliament, the Senate.

In the vote in the upper house, 211 senators voted against CETA. Only 44 senators voted in favor. The rejection was then confirmed by a second vote. The second vote was expected to run out of time, but opponents of the treaty managed to arrange it, saving time in the debate.

However, a “no” vote by the Senate does not in itself mean that the treaty is voided. Under EU rules, the rejection is only valid if the government formally notifies the European Commission (EC), which Macron is unlikely to do.

The French government has not announced how it will deal with the situation, but one option is to return the treaty to the National Assembly for a new debate and vote.

Seventeen EU member states have ratified the treaty, while the ratification process is still ongoing in ten countries.

France is the second EU country to reject CETA. Cyprus was the first to do this, but the government of this country has not informed the European Commission about it and continues to apply the agreement until a new vote on it.