As you know, CETA was signed on 30 October 2016, a few days behind schedule due to the opposition of the Walloon Parliament following careful analysis of its content and implications. After lengthy negotiations and talks, the CETA was signed by all but with some compromises. Indeed, the delegates of Walloon parliamentarians have tried to improve this treaty, and it is now understood that no dissatisfaction is any longer justified. But it appears, however, that no renegotiation of the text itself took place, and that this treaty has in no way changed in substance[1].
Belgium has thus obtained that the provisions relating to the settlement of investor-state disputes are excluded from the scope of the provisional application of the Treaty and that they must await all the national ratifications in order to be activated. However, this does not resolve the question of the creation of an arbitral tribunal for
- the benefit of multinationals alone[2]. Although the EU has promised, in the long term, the creation of a Multilateral Investment Court to replace the EU-Canada bilateral system, your role today is to obtain concrete certifications on this promise in the form of Commitments and explicit legal guarantees. Recall that such a project had already been carried out by the OECD in the 1990s and was eventually abandoned.
[1] Both the AITEC and the CNCD have published an article explaining that this “New CETA” brings some small changes but are minimal because nothing has moved on the substance.
Association Internationale de Techniciens, Experts et Chercheurs (AITEC), « Nouveau CETA ou mystification ? Décryptage du paquet CETA signé le 30 octobre », https://stoptafta.wordpress.com/2016/11/06/nouveau-ceta-ou-mystification-decryptage-du-paquet-ceta-signe-le-30-octobre/
CNCD 11.11.11, « Autopsie à chaud de l’accord sur le CETA », http://www.cncd.be/Autopsie-a-chaud-de-l-accord-sur
[2] Having thus granted rights in a subjective manner, the only interpretation of which lies with the arbitrators who do not satisfy the minimum impartiality and independance criteria.