The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
Steven Shrybman
This opinion, prepared for the Columbia Institute Centre for Civic Governance, discusses the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that Canada is negotiating with the European Union.
Described by the federal government as the most ambitious free trade initiative to be undertaken by Canada, CETA’s proposed provisions replicate those of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Those agreements greatly expanded the scope of international trade law to encompass spheres of domestic policy and law that have little to do with international trade in any conventional sense, including those within the jurisdiction of municipal governments. Steven Shrybman explains the potential impacts of CETA on municipal government authority.