Demonstrators in Spain protest EU-Canada free trade deal
Spaniards have staged a protest rally in the capital, Madrid, against a controversial free trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Canada.
More than 400 trade unions and social organizations including farmers and ranchers’ organizations, who came to the rally with their tractors, took part in the demonstration on Saturday.
“We are here because we want to stop CETA. CETA is a trade deal that is against democracy, against people, against the rights of the working class, and we don’t want the Spanish government to ratify it,” said one of the demonstrators, using the acronym for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
Protesters held placards denouncing social inequality and promoting democracy.
“Democracy and public services are not sold but defended,” one placard read.
After seven years of negotiations, the EU and Canada formally signed the in October 2016. The European Parliament approved the deal in February. The agreement awaits ratification by national legislatures in EU states.
If enacted, the agreement will eliminate 98 percent of the tariffs between Canada and the EU.
Critics argue that the deal will harm European environmental, labor and consumer standards, resulting in a rise in unemployment.
Supporters of CETA believe it will increase Canadian-EU trade by 20 percent and help save over half a billion euros in taxes for EU exporters every year.
The weekend march began from Madrid’s largest railway station, Atocha, and proceeded to the Congress of Deputies, which is due to vote on the CETA later this month.
Some of the signs carried by the protesters also read, “Stop TTIP,” referring to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the EU and the US, another deal, similar to CETA, which has also been met with fierce public criticism across Europe.
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