EU-Canada trade deal against the wall as Irish government REJECTS agreement
IRISH politicians have voted against a secretive free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada over fears it would open governments up to being sued and would influence public regulation.
The Seanad - the Irish Senate - passed the motion to stop the country signing up to the "provisional application" of the controversial Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) by one vote yesterday.
Sinn Féin, Labour and several Independents supported the motion put forward by Independent Alice Mary Higgins who said the pact, which has mostly been thrashed out in secret, was part of a "new generation" of trade deals.
Christian democratic party, Fine Gael, voted against the opposition after its senators spoke in favour of CETA and Republican party, Fianna Fáil, abstained from the vote .
It is an absolute game-changer with the potential to affect our public services, environment and policy decisions
Ms Higgins, whose father Michael D. Higgins is the Irish President, said the proposals for CETA are radically different from previous trade agreements and spoke of fears the agreement would give special powers to corporations to sue European governments and influence public regulation.
She said: "It is an absolute game-changer with the potential to affect our public services, environment and policy decisions in a way we have not seen before."
CETA is a pre-cursor to the even more controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a series of trade negotiations between the EU and the United States which are mostly being carried out in secret.
Many EU member states are opposed to both CETA and TTIP but yesterday Angela Merkel said it should go head despite the opposition.
Britain's international trade secretary, Liam Fox, also quietly endorsed the two trade deals this week at the Conservative Party conference.
German SPD back CETA deal
Fine Gael Senator Dr James Reilly, who voted against CETA's opposition, argued the deal would offer good opportunities to Irish producers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and create more Irish jobs.
He said: "We are a small, open economy and we stand to gain an awful lot more from the access to a further large market like Canada through the EU."
Fianna Fáil Senator Gerry Horkan, who abstained from the vote, said CETA would remove more than 99 per cent of tariffs between the two economies and create sizeable new market opportunities.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Financial Services Union (FSU) supported the vote against CETA and called on the Dáil, the Irish Parliament's lower house equivalent to the House of Commons, to heed the advice of the Seanad to not sign up to CETA.
They join a growing number of unions across Europe calling for the rejection of CETA and TTIP.
David Joyce, Congress' equality and global solidarity officer, said: "Congress congratulates Senator Higgins and those who supported this motion.
"We hope this will help kickstart a badly-needed debate on this proposed trade deal, which is opposed by unions across the EU and the United States."
Congress previously called the TTIP an "affront to democracy".
The CETA deal is due to be signed by Canada and the EU on October 27, but parliaments across the Brussels bloc will then have to debate and vote on its application and the European Parliament will then have to support the agreement.