The federal cabinet today ratified the trade agreement with Canada and adopted the Federal Government’s new trade policy agenda.

Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said:

“The agenda adopted in today’s cabinet launches the reform of our trade policy. It will finally enable Germany to stand up for a fair European trade policy. This means that sanctions can be imposed on non-compliance with the Paris climate agreement, the biodiversity agreement and ILO core labour standards, so that trade preferences can be withdrawn in such cases. That sounds as though it should be self-evident – but this is far from being the case. So far, no-one has looked behind the scenes and asked how sustainable the growth is, or whether key workers’ rights are being upheld. We now want to help give a sound economic basis for climate action and the transformation in these countries. It is obvious that trade should offer mutual benefits. But, when we conclude a trade agreement, we are now asking what precisely this benefit consists of, and who profits, both now and in the future. We are orienting our trade policy goals and our trade agreements towards this. We have no objections to investment protection. But we argue against unconditional protection for expected profits resulting in lock-in effects and impeding developments. Specifically, in future we want to focus investment protection on protection against direct expropriation and discrimination. We are now working to make these principles the benchmark for trade policy across the EU.”

Today’s decision in the federal cabinet on the trade policy agenda and the CETA Ratification Act means that the Federal Government is swiftly implementing the understanding reached within the coalition on 23 June 2022. It clears the way for the Bundestag to consider the CETA Ratification Act.

The negotiations on a free trade agreement with Canada were completed when it was signed by the EU, its Member States and Canada on 30 October 2016. CETA has been applied provisionally since September 2017. However, CETA cannot fully enter into force until all the EU Member States have ratified it. The economies of the European Union and Canada are already closely interconnected thanks to diverse investment and trade links. Economic relations with Canada offer considerable potential for expansion and development. Intensifying trade and investment makes supply chains more resilient, widens access to critical raw materials and facilitates investment in climate-friendly technologies.

A second important point today is the adoption by the cabinet of the trade policy agenda. In its new trade policy agenda, the Federal Government is formulating its aspiration to anchor fundamental international treaties and agreements in trade accords, such as the ILO core labour standards, the Paris climate agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Violations are to be discussed in dialogue and mediation formats, and ultimately subjected to trade restrictions.
In the future, inter-institutional agreements are to be used as a tool to ensure better democratic participation in the implementation of free trade agreements.
In this spirit, the Federal Government will work towards the ratification of the trade agreement with the Mercosur countries.


The draft act can be found here.
The key elements paper can be found here.