Minister Mykkänen to an extraordinary meeting of EU Trade Ministers

Press release 195/2016
18 October 2016

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen will participate in an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC Trade) in Luxembourg on 18 October. A decision on the extraordinary Council meeting was made in the informal meeting of the trade segment of the Foreign Affairs Council in Bratislava earlier in the autumn.

At its meeting on 18 October, the Council of Ministers intends to adopt a package of decisions on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA). Even though the consultations are still under way in some EU Member States, the Council aims to adopt decisions on signature and provisional application of the agreement as well as a joint interpretative declaration. At the same time the Council could send the agreement to the European Parliament for its consent. The agreement will be signed in connection with the EU-Canada Summit on 27 October.

In the joint interpretative declaration, the Parties emphasise the Member States' right to regulate in different sectors within their territories and the decision to keep the provision of public services outside the agreement. The purpose of the declaration is not to amend the provisions of the agreement; instead, it can be used to help interpret the agreement in the future.

According to Minister Mykkänen, CETA will, for its part, provide the desired additional momentum to Finnish export. As soon as the agreement enters into force, it will be possible to export almost any industrial products from the EU area to Canada without duties. CETA is the first agreement for Canada to give external companies access to its local public procurements market. In its other agreements, Canada has not committed to a similar procedure.

The provisional application of CETA could start after the European Parliament has adopted the agreement. To the extent that it belongs to the Member States' sphere of national competence, the agreement will enter into force after it has been ratified in Parliament.

Inquiries: Marja Koskela, Diplomatic Adviser to Minister Mykkänen, tel. +358 40 352 0463, Markku Keinänen, Director General, Department for External Economic Relations, tel. +358 295 351 460

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are of the format [email protected].