This follow-up to the 2014 report, Making Sense of CETA, assesses the final text of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement as released in February 2016. The dozen or so European and Canadian contributors herein look at how CETA would, if ratified, have far-reaching and problematic impacts on public services, domestic regulation, intellectual property rights, and government measures implemented to address climate change or improve food security. A chapter on investment protection in CETA challenges claims a proposed “investment court system” sufficiently addresses concerns about the anti-democratic nature of investor-state dispute settlement. A final chapter on the lengthy ratification processes in Europe and Canada suggests CETA will be the subject of intense public debate, especially in Europe, for some time to come.
About the authors
Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood (he/him) is a senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. His work focuses on federal economic, social and environmental policy, especially in the areas of climate change, artificial intelligence and industrial strategy. Hadrian edits the monthly Shift Storm newsletter on climate and labour.
Stuart serves as director of the CCPA’s Trade and Investment Research Project (TIRP), which pools the expertise of academic, labour and non-governmental organization researchers to understand the impacts of trade and investment treaties and policy on the Canadian economy, public services, human rights and international relations. He joined the CCPA in 2014 as editor of the Monitor magazine. Stuart has a BA in journalism and political science and a MA in political economy from Carleton University. He was previously a trade researcher and campaigner with the Council of Canadians. In 2009, he co-founded the Trade Justice Network, which continues to bring together labour, environmental, student, human rights and social justice groups to contest neoliberal trade rules and propose progressive alternatives.
