Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 53, 55, 56 and 64 together.

On 30 October 2016 the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement, CETA, was signed by representatives from Canada, the European Union and its member states. On 15 February 2017 the European Parliament voted in support of the provisional application of the CETA. As I have said many times before in the House, the provisions relating to investment protection, investment dispute settlement and the investment court system are excluded from the provisional application. The main provisions offering new opportunities for Irish industry and business will come into force once Canada has completed its own procedures.

The process of ratification can now commence in the member states according to their constitutional requirements. In Ireland’s case, the Dáil will be part of the final decision to ratify the agreement. Canada is finalising its internal implementation procedures to allow for its ratification of the agreement. It is expected that the CETA will provisionally apply from summer 2017. The Council's decision on provisional application of the CETA is available on the public register of documents on the Council's website. The document reference number is 10974/16.The decision provides that the majority of the provisions of the agreement will be provisionally applied.

Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan has asked which chapters will be provisionally applied and which will not. The position is that only Articles 8.1 to 8.8, inclusive, Article 8.13, Article 8.15, with the exception of paragraph 3, and Article 8.16 will be provisionally applied in chapter 8 and only in so far as foreign direct investment is concerned. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 13.2, Article 13.3 and Article 13.4, Article 13.9 and Article 13.21 of chapter 13 shall not be provisionally applied in so far as they concern portfolio investment, protection of investment or the resolution of investment disputes between investors and states. Article 20.12, Article 27.3 and Article 27.4 and paragraph 7 of Article 28.7 shall not be provisionally applied. The provisional application of chapters 22 to 24, inclusive, of the agreement shall respect the allocation of competences between the European Union and the member states.

On Deputy Mick Wallace's question, the CETA will establish a regulatory co-operation forum to discuss regulatory issues of mutual interest and develop bilateral co-operation activities. The forum is expected to enhance information sharing between Canadian and EU regulators, facilitate the development of more compatible regulatory measures, resulting in fewer barriers to trade and making it easier for the European Union to do business in Canada. The forum will be co-chaired by a senior representative of the Government of Canada and a senior representative of the European Commission and relevant officials from the European Union and Canada. The forum cannot change existing legislation or develop new legislation on its own and will not have any decision-making powers. It can only make recommendations to regulators and legislators. Any initiative entailing a change in EU regulations can only be introduced and pursued outside the CETA framework in compliance with the ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union.

I fully support provisional application of the agreement. I am of the view that there should be no impediment to Irish companies immediately taking advantage of the provisions of the CETA, including eliminating tariffs on almost all key exports, access to the Canadian procurement market, easing regulatory barriers and ensuring more transparent rules for market access such as a single website for public procurement.

To answer Deputy Maurice Quinlivan's question, it is important to wait to see the benefits of the CETA come into being before the CETA is put before the Dáil for ratification. We can then have a fully informed, evidence-based debate on the value of the agreement to Ireland.

To address Deputy Thomas P. Broughan's question on the EU-US transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, following the US presidential election, the negotiations are effectively on hold.

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