Congress has confirmed the campaign of opposition to the full implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will continue, following the signing of the accord between the EU and Canada.
Congress International Development Officer David Joyce said: 'this anti-democratic deal privileges investors over EU citizens and will lead to the opening up of key public services to privatisation. It could also harm labour standards and protections across the European Union.
'the accord may have been signed today, but it is only in force on a provisional basis - it will not become a permanent deal until it is passed by up to 38 national and regional parliaments across the European Union, including the Dail.
"Congress will continue to oppose this deal and is calling on government to facilitate a full debate on CETA and other deals such as the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP). "Earlier this month the Seanad passed a motion calling on government not to agree to the provisional application of CETA, which they appear to have ignored," he said.
"CETA will see the creation of a special system of secretive courts that will allow investors to sue governments if they fear official policy may harm their profits, which will give them huge power over policy formation. 'this is fundamentally anti-democratic and must not be allowed to proceed unchallenged," Mr Joyce concluded.
