“The planned signing of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA) next week is still uncertain, because several countries continue to have doubts”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told reporters on Tuesday following a meeting of EU foreign affairs and trade ministers in Luxembourg.
“It is in Hungary’s interests for the European Union to succeed in remaining competitive in the new global economic situation, to which the conclusion of a free trade agreement with Canada that handles the sensitivity of EU Member States is indispensable”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.
“Europe must become part of global trade processes. If the EU is incapable of concluding a free trade agreement then it will fall permanently behind in the international trade and economic competition, which would also have and extremely negative effect on Hungary”, he added.
With regard to the details of the meeting, Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that Romania and Bulgaria are in fundamental agreement on the treaty, but both countries are asking Canada to include them in its roadmap towards visa liberalisation.
In Belgium, on Friday the Walloon Parliament voted against supporting the treaty, and without this support the Federal Government doesn’t have the right to sign the treaty.
According to a statement by the Council of EU Ministers, Belgium has been given until the end of the two-day summit of EU heads of state and government on Friday to come to a decision with regard to signing the agreement.
The Council of Ministers made it clear that the temporary or interim application of the agreement was something that belonged exclusively to issues that fall under a community sphere of competence. This means that the joint declaration issued on Tuesday states that even if the free trade agreement is signed, regulatory issues will remain within a national sphere of competence. All kinds or regulatory changes can only be performed by Member States on a voluntary basis.
“The CETA cannot force any Member State to change its regulations on any issue, including concerning the environment, food safety, public services or public procurement”, he stressed.
The Council statement also made it clear that if accepting the agreement is made permanently impossible in any Member State, then the treaty’s temporary application will immediately terminate with regard to all Member States”, he added.
“Hungarian regulations banning the importing of genetically modified agricultural products are in absolutely no danger because there are guarantees that products that are introduced onto the European market can only be authorised if they pass preliminary health and other tests”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.
Providing details of the closing statement, the Foreign Minister told reporters that food safety, consumer protection and water management issues would also remain within a national sphere of competence, and that the Ministers had stipulated that the level of environmental regulation in Europe cannot decrease.
“It would be disadvantageous for Hungary if the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada were to fail to come about, because Hungarian enterprises are deeply integrated into European production chains. European products are currently at a disadvantage on the Canadian market because of the North American free trade agreements”, the Foreign Minister said. “Once the CETA is concluded, European enterprises, including Hungarian companies, will be able to compete on equal terms in Canada”, he added.
Mr. Szijjártó also confirmed that the CETA handles Hungary’s concerns with regard to the field of agriculture relating to the production of maize, poultry, beef, pork and eggs, in a satisfactory manner. “In addition, the treaty is also favourable for Hungary with regard to geographical origin labelling for Tokaji wine and Szeged winter salami”, the Foreign Minister added.