Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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305. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the process for ratifying CETA; and when the CETA trade agreement will be voted on by Dáil Éireann in 2018. [53690/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The EU – Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) entered into force provisionally from the 21st September 2017.  This means that Irish companies may now take advantage of important provisions in the Agreement including the immediate elimination of 98% of tariffs on almost all key exports, access to the Canadian procurement market, the easing of regulatory barriers and more transparent rules for market access.

It is important to note that the provisions relating to investment protection 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.

In this regard, given the recent request by Belgium for an Opinion (1/17) from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the compatibility of the Investment Court System in CETA with the European Treaties, I have no immediate plans to seek the ratification of the Agreement.  It would only be appropriate to do so after we have considered the Opinion of the CJEU. 

Ireland already has a strong trading relationship with Canada which is reflected in the €3.2 billion worth of annual trade between both countries.  The value of Irish exports to Canada is worth €2.4 billion whilst the value of Irish imports from Canada is worth €780 million.  I welcome the provisional application of CETA which will provide increased opportunities for new and existing Irish companies trading with Canada to build and develop further these relationships, providing increased growth and jobs.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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306. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the May 2017 ECJ decision regarding the EU-Singapore trade agreement and potential impact on existing EU trade agreements and future ones; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53691/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was sought by the European Commission in relation to the competence of the European Union to sign and conclude alone, the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA).  The CJEU’s Opinion which issued on the 16th of May 2017, found that the EUSFTA could not be signed and concluded by the EU alone, as it contained areas of EU and Member State shared competence, i.e. that it was a ‘Mixed Agreement’. 

The Opinion means that those aspects of a trade agreement in respect of which the EU does not have exclusive competence, cannot be applied until ratified by Member States according to the requirements of their national law.  This means that as presently concluded the EUSFTA will require ratification by each individual Member State in accordance with their legislative requirements. 

The European Commission is engaging in discussions with Member States in relation to how it proposes to progress the EUSFTA and its future approach to EU trade agreements.  This engagement includes whether existing agreements which have yet to be ratified, or current agreements, which are under negotiation, should be concluded as ‘Mixed’ or ‘EU-only’ agreements.  My Department is actively engaged in these discussions through the Trade Policy Committee in Brussels.