The request of the Members who have tabled today's motion was for the European Court of Justice to examine the CETA and decide whether it is fully compatible with EU law. According to Florent Marcellesi, MEP of Equo, “We want the Tribunal to analyze the entire CETA, but above all the ICS”. The ICS are the acronym for the courts of resolution between the Member States and the investors, and the MEPs who have signed the motion consider that the establishment of these courts may fall within the scope of the respective competences of both the European Union itself and each of its Members.

“ICS can assume some of the functions of European and state courts without the need to,” says Marcellesi. Through such courts, a foreign investor may sue an entity if he or she believes that a decision taken by the entity, such as an environmental protection law or workers ' rights, is detrimental to the entity. They are better known by the acronym ISDS.

Both TTIP and CETA originally envisaged ISDS courts, but in view of the opposition the European Commission proposed a softer version, the ICS. For opponents of the trade agreements, this was nothing more than a purely cosmetic exercise. Indeed, the ICS has been the cause of the recent slowdown in the approval process of CETA by the Walloon region.

Vote, but no discussion

Those who have tabled a motion on CETA complain that the Eurolegeassembly's governing body, the Parliamentary Assembly of Presidents, has denied the possibility of discussing the motion. “It will simply be voted on,” Marcellesi explained to us on Tuesday, “and the vote on CETA will also be just that, a simple vote, without prior discussion.”

“Parliament can reject CETA if it votes no, but it does not have the opportunity to discuss its content,” Mercellesi says, “that is, there is no possibility of making amendments to the text.” Either totally for or totally against. And it can be reasonably assumed that a favourable attitude will prevail in this session in February.

Once the parliamentary milestone has been reached, the parliaments of all the Member States should give their consent to CETA to be fully recognised, but the green light of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference will be sufficient for the treaty, or at least a large part of it, to enter into force provisionally.

The TTIP negotiation in question

The TTIP negotiations between Europe and the US are frozen, despite the European Commission’s formal assertion that the process continues. If these negotiations were already stalled, it seems that the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House will make it even more difficult to advance this agreement, both because of the intentions that the new president has publicly revealed and because of the precedent set by one of the first government actions he has announced – the withdrawal of the US from the trans-Pacific trade agreement TPP.