Press Release No. 45/2016 IG Metall Calls for Further Legally Binding Clarifications Regarding the CETA Free Trade Agreement – ...

Berlin – IG Metall has called for further legally binding clarifications regarding the controversial free trade agreement with Canada (CETA). “We still see a need for clarification and are calling for greater legal enforceability regarding investor protection, the admissibility of collective bargaining compliance provisions, and, above all, the enforcement of workers’ rights,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Thursday in Berlin during the presentation of the legal opinion titled “Free Trade and Investor Protection – Binding and Effective Social Safeguards?”

The legal opinion, prepared by Prof. Dr. Herta Däubler-Gmelin and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Däubler for the Hugo Sinzheimer Institute, outlines concrete proposals for improvements to a legally binding additional protocol to the CETA treaty, said the IG Metall chairman. “Some of these proposals have been incorporated into the Joint Interpretative Statement on the CETA agreement. However, their legal binding force is limited. That is why we are calling for their inclusion in the CETA treaty as a provision that is binding under international law.”

IG Metall is relying on the parliamentary procedures in the European Parliament, the German Bundestag, and the parliaments of the other member states. “Elected representatives should have the confidence to demand improvements. The EU-Canada Joint Interpretative Statement shows that clarifications are still possible,” said Hofmann. However, public pressure remains important.

During the presentation of the expert report, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Däubler emphasized: “Workers’ rights and the public interest must not be undermined. This still needs to be ensured—especially with regard to CETA.”

The report also notes that the mechanisms in trade agreements to date are insufficient to safeguard labor and social standards.

Fair free trade agreements are necessary as part of a fair global trading system, said Prof. Dr. Herta Däubler-Gmelin. “Canada and the EU can serve as role models. That is why CETA must be renegotiated. The European Parliament, the Bundestag, and the Bundesrat now have a special responsibility to act.”