Canadian officials are quietly preparing a ceremony to mark formally the successful conclusion of European Union trade deal negotiations, but Germany says it's too early to know what the final text will look like.
Officials acknowledge the negotiations aren’t quite completed, but International Trade Minister Ed Fast’s office said Monday "excellent progress is being made."
A German newspaper kicked off of a flurry of speculation over the weekend by quoting unnamed German officials saying Europe’s leading economy would refuse to sign the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada due to certain contentious provisions concerning investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regulations.
The current draft of CETA includes provisions that, at least in Germany’s view, would allow activists and individuals to use the courts to block a country’s legislature from passing some laws and regulations.
A spokesperson for Germany’s economic ministry dismissed the weekend report, which relied on an unnamed German diplomat. Tobias Dünow is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying it "doesn’t reflect the position of the government or the ministry."
That view is shared by Germany's ambassador to Canada.
The Berlin government also says the agreement will be studied very closely — that's largely because it is expected the EU will use its deal with Canada as a template for trade negotiations with the U.S.
The issue of ISDS arose out of stakeholder consultations in Germany that were held after Canada signed an agreement in principle, says one trade law expert, who added the Canada-EU deal is too important to Canada to scuttle over investor rights provisions.
Ottawa says trade deal talks are continuing.
