MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Friday, Greenpeace welcomed Belgium’s commitment to ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) about legality of the Investment Court System (ICS) contained in CETA. The ICS is a system of protection of investments, which allows corporations to sue governments if their investments are affected bypassing the ECJ and national courts.
“It will take a lot more than a symbolic handshake and a photo op to impose CETA on Europeans. The cat is out of the bag – Canadian prime minister Trudeau and European governments know that CETA has been seriously wounded now that its true purpose has come to light. This agreement will probably not survive the democratic and legal scrutiny of the ratification process over the coming months. It’s time for our governments to break rank with corporate lobbyists and redesign a trade policy that respects democracy and promotes the public interest,” Greenpeace EU trade policy adviser Shira Stanton said.
The agreement was at first blocked by the Belgium’s French-speaking region of Wallonia but on Thursday Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that the parties had finally managed to reach consensus.
