Photo: Michel Piccaya/Shutterstock.comSome 99.99 per cent of the world’s consumers are outside these islands and if we want to grow our business or our market, the best way to do it is to go international.
That’s why we believe that the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada makes sense for Maltese citizens. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, commonly known as Ceta, is a positive step for Malta and definitely for the world.
We had discussed this subject during the first Foreign Affairs Committee of the Maltese Parliament just an hour before Parliament broke for the summer recess. Parliament has however not yet ratified this trade agreement.
From September 21 onwards the application of Ceta will remain provisional pending ratification by each EU country and several other EU regional assemblies/parliaments, a process that could take more than two years. Until now, Latvia, Spain and Denmark have ratified it on the EU side.
One must point out that the timing couldn’t be better. Symbolically, 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Canadian federation and the EU’s 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which is its founding treaty.
Politically Ceta is to date the most ambitious free trade agreement ever between two trading partners, amid a growing sense of suspicion in multilateralism by the hard left and far right on both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps this has been exemplified by Brexit and the US policy of President Donald Trump lately.
As such, the signing of Ceta is a welcome development. Geopolitically speaking, it gives the EU more clout internationally and on the other hand it marginalises Britain and the US, much as we might regret this.
Malta, thanks to previous Nationalist Party administrations, is an open economy and because of this, generally speaking, the more the EU makes free trade agreements with non-EU countries the better for these islands. In fact there are other countries in the pipeline.
Recently, EU-Japan negotiations were in the spotlight, after both parties announced a “fundamental agreement” regarding the deal. The EU has, fortunately, a busy trade agenda. There is also a strong drive to concluding ambitious and comprehensive deals with Mexico and Mercosur, and there is progress on talks with India, China and the Philippines.
With Ceta, the customs tariffs for Maltese exporters and importers will be eliminated. The Canadian services market opens up to Maltese firms
Apart from the fact that under the Estonian presidency of the EU a mandate for negotiations with Chile, Australia and New Zealand is also foreseen.
Malta already has very close ties with Canada, not just historical but also in terms of trade and investment. Canada is Malta’s seventh biggest trade partner outside the EU, when it comes to goods. The value of Maltese exports of goods and services to Canada reach up to €326m and in terms of Maltese imports of goods and services from Canada the value reaches a staggering €538m.
The current Maltese administration, as the previous, has supported this free trade agreement notwithstanding the stiff opposition to it by a sizeable chunk of the socialists across large parts of Europe. Most socialist members of the European Parliament coalesced with the communists and the Greens in the European Parliament trying to torpedo Ceta and almost managed.
It was largely thanks to the excellent stewardship of Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and the leadership of the chairman of the EPP Group Manfred Weber that this legislation is now quite close to its final destination.
This free trade agreement is in real terms massive. It eliminates 98 per cent of the tariffs between Canada and the EU and it saves European exporters more than €500 million every year.
It respects high environmental, consumer and labour standards and it took seven years to negotiate. This is another valid reason why it made sense for Malta to join the EU. It would have been nigh impossible for Malta on its own to sign such an agreement with Canada given its sheer size.
We all know that Malta is a very open economy but few know, though, that almost one in five Maltese jobs rely on exports outside Europe.
With Ceta the customs tariffs for Maltese exporters and importers will be eliminated. The Canadian services market opens up to Maltese firms. Maltese firms will be able to bid for more public contracts in Canada. It is much easier for Maltese professionals to work in Canada and much easier for Malta’s small businesses to export to Canada.
Free trade agreements like the EU membership are thus intrinsically good for us. There might on the other hand be downsides along the way particularly for small and medium enterprises which face disadvantages, which the State is in duty bound to address. From our part as Opposition members we will remain vigilant to assist so that quick, durable and fruitful solutions are found to these essential wealth creators.
Ceta has largely remained below the radar in Malta in terms of political debate and analysis. This may be attributed to the national political consensus there is on it.
However it does remind us that this sheer silence on such a massive and important issue for Malta is a reflection of how much, thanks to the long-term vision the Nationalist Party embraced, we have grown accustomed to take the EU benefits for granted.
Carm Mifsud Bonnici is Opposition spokesman on international affairs and trade and David Stellini is Opposition spokesman on European affairs, including Brexit.