EU court rules in favor of bloc’s free-trade agreement with Canada

The EU-Canada free-trade agreement’s provisions to protect investors do not breach EU law, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday. The ruling is seen as a major relief for proponents of the deal that came into force in 2017.

The ECJ’s judges said that the mechanism to resolve disputes between investors and states in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada is in line with EU law. Critics say the deal unfairly favors multinationals, Reuters reported.

The system of tribunals to settle disputes between foreign investors and states became a focal point of protests against the planned EU-US TTIP trade deal and CETA when EU countries were deciding whether to back the latter in 2016.

The Belgian region of Wallonia, then led by the Socialists, threatened to block the deal, but the federal government persuaded it not to do so in return for certain concessions.