CETA implementation: SMEs and regions in focus

Summary:

The majority of provisions of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) have been implemented since 21 September 2017, with the agreement’s provisional application pending full ratification.

The aim of this EPRS analysis is to chart the state of play of CETA's ratification procedures, its key objectives, remaining controversies, and the initial results stemming from two years of provisional application, with a focus on regions and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It is important to note that it is too early to evaluate the economic and social impacts of CETA. That will be the remit of the ex-post evaluation usually carried out by the European Commission five years after the start of provisonal application. By providing an overview of the early results of CETA implementation two years in, this analysis seeks to inform forthcoming deliberations on both CETA itself and other free trade agreements between the EU and various partner countries.