site.btaABV Insists That Government Does Not Support Provisional Application CETA

ABV Insists That Government Does Not Support Provisional Application CETA

Sofia, July 28 (BTA) - ABV insists that the Government does not support the provisional application of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), ABV's Deputy Chair Ivailo Kalfin said. The party has even submitted a draft decision on the issue to the National Assembly.

According to Kalfin, the European Commission has proposed to the EU Council to provisionally apply. Certain member states allege that the Commission has exceeded its rights in negotiating the agreement and the issue has been referred to the EU Court of Justice. The Commission insists on the provisional application of the agreement until the Court comes up with a decision, Kalfin said. ABV holds the opinion that the Bulgarian Government should not support the provisional application of CETA until all hindrances are removed.

ABV insists that the Government presents an analysis of the anticipated impact of the agreement on Bulgaria, after which Parliament should hear the Prime Minister on the issue, which should happen by the end of October.

Kalfin explained that there is a possibility for expressing reservations or restriction of the possibility for Canadian companies to provide certain utility services, said Kalfin. In his opinion, the regulation of public services by the agreement would restrict the rights of the national states. "We insist that the Bulgarian government expresses its reservations, in particular, regarding public services," he added.

Representatives of the Bulgarian side have repeatedly tied up the implementation of CETA with the lifting of visa requirements for Bulgarian nationals. Bulgarians and Romanians are the only EU nationals, who need visas to travel to Canada.