Poland is
threatening to block a part of the EU’s trade deal with Canada because of its
concerns over a planned mechanism for resolving disputes between governments
and multinational companies.
Known as
CETA, the EU’s pact with Canada contains a different court system in which a
panel of judges would be appointed to hear cases. The panel will consist of
five EU judges, five Canadian judges, and five judges from third countries — a
system that Brussels has said would provide improved transparency and
democratic oversight.
As reported
by The Financial Times, Warsaw is worried that this could lead to cases
involving Poland being heard without a Polish judge. It is therefore pushing
for the panel to be expanded to include a judge from each of the EU’s current
28 nations.
Failing
that, it wants clarity on how the EU judges on the panel will be assigned to
cases, to ensure that the procedure is fair and does not favour particular
countries.
“Our trade
partners would always enjoy a right to nominate their judges, while a
particular [EU] member state would not have such a guarantee,” the committee
that advises the Polish government on its foreign investment policy warned the
EU last month in a letter seen by the FT.
“Such a
fundamental inequality in the system should not be accepted, for legal,
political and financial reasons,” the committee said in the letter, sent to
Cecilia Malmström, the EU trade commissioner.
The
advisory committee warned that, if Poland’s requests are “not properly
addressed,” it “will not be in a position” to recommend that the government
“accept EU and member states trade and investment agreements.”
The bulk of
the CETA agreement is set to provisionally apply from September 21 — a date
which will be unaffected by the latest Polish move because the trade deal has
already been approved by the European Parliament and the European Council — the
EU body that represents national governments.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/poland-threatens-derail-eu-canada-trade-deal/