Why are French environmentalists and farmers uniting against the EU’s trade deal with Canada?

Politics Explained: Campaigners are concerned about the agreement’s impact on climate change

Protests against Ceta were staged in Paris on Tuesday (AFP/Getty)

EU trade agreements are always controversial, and the “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement” – the huge EU-Canada trade deal more commonly known as Ceta – is no exception. National parliaments have to vote to ratify such treaties, and the concessions negotiators make at the EU level may not always be approved of at a national level.

The deal removed tariffs on 98 per cent of goods and services between Canada and the EU, eliminating €​590m (£530m) in customs duties.

The deal took seven years to negotiate and was ratified by the European parliament in February 2017.

But in France, where MPs are set to vote on the treaty, opposition to the deal has come from two main quarters: farmers and environmentalists.

Farmers say opening European markets to Canadian products puts Europe’s food safety standards at risk. They are also worried about unfair competition from North American producers that don’t have to follow the same standards as European ones.

Environmental groups – including Emmanuel Macron’s former environment minister Nicolas Hulot – object to the treaty for a variety of reasons.

Seventy-two environmental and farming organisations said in a joint statement that “the risks of Ceta are widely documented”.

“How can one justify the ratification of an agreement that facilitates the entry on the European market of products that have been developed according to standards lower than European standards?” the organisations ask.

They cite beef fed on animal meal and antibiotics used as growth promoters, as well as the use of pesticides based in the EU.

But they say the treaty also poses a climate change risk because it encourages European capital to invest in Canadian tar sands and other harmful fossil fuels. They cite a 63 per cent increase in fossil fuel exports to the EU during the first 12 months of the treaty’s provisional implementation.

The government also cites an increase in trade between Canada and the EU: but as a reason to approve the treaty.