Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the ratification process for ratifying CETA; and the timeframe for the trade agreement be voted on by Dáil Éireann. [40122/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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On the 15th February 2017, the European Parliament gave its consent to the provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Provisional application is a standard part of EU trade agreements and allows only those parts of the agreement for which the EU has competence to be provisionally applied, pending the completion of each Member State’s procedures according to the requirements of their national law.

The EU and Canada have agreed that CETA will provisionally apply from the 21st September 2017. This means Irish companies may immediately take advantage of the provisions of CETA including the elimination of tariffs on almost all of key exports, access to the Canadian procurement market, easing regulatory barriers and more transparent rules for market access. The provisions relating to investment protection, investor-state dispute settlement and the Investment Court System are excluded from provisional application. This means Ireland or other Member States will not be bound by these provisions until they are ratified by all Member States in accordance with their national law. Before CETA comes fully into force it would require the approval of Dáil Éireann.

My Department is currently in the process of undertaking a comprehensive study which will examine in depth the economic impact of existing and forthcoming EU Free Trade Agreements including CETA. The analysis from the study will inform the Department and relevant agencies in setting the policy framework required for Irish businesses to take full advantage of concluded trade agreements and preferential trade access, and to prepare for future opportunities. The study will also identify the impact of free trade agreements at sectorial level, especially on employment and output. The study is expected to commence in October 2017.

The final decision on the timing of the CETA ratification process will be made in due course, in the context of the results of the study and the Opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the EU-Singapore case.

The means by which Ireland notifies the completion of its internal procedures is by way of a written letter, delivered in hardcopy, from the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the EU addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union.

Article 30.7.2 of CETA provides that the Agreement shall enter into force on the first of the second month following the date the EU and Canada exchange written notifications certifying that they have completed their respective internal requirements and procedures or on a date agreed by the EU and Canada. Once all the Member States notify the General Secretariat of the EU that their internal procedures are complete, the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU may then submit a notification to Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

I support the provisional application of CETA. I believe that it is important to see the benefits of the Agreement taking effect so we can then have a fully informed, evidence based debate on the value of the Agreement to Ireland.