The Veblen Institute, foodwatch and the Nicolas Hulot Foundation (FNH), sought the opinion of Dominique Rousseau, professor of constitutional law, and Évelyne Lagrange and Laurence Dubin, professors of public international law (1), about the question of the compatibility of CETA with the French Constitution.

According to their analysis, and despite the texts annexed in extremis to CETA for adoption by the European Union Council on October 30, 2016 (2), the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada (CETA) still contains provisions that violate the French Constitution.

In this note, foodwatch, the Veblen Institute and the FNH point out three fundamental breaches of the Constitution that emerge from these analyses :
– the principle of equality
– the essential conditions for the exercise of national sovereignty
– the precautionary principle

Notes :
(1) Dominique Rousseau is a professor of constitutional law at the Sorbonne Law School, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, former member of the Supreme Judicial Council from 2002 to 2006. His research focuses on constitutional litigation and the notion of democracy.

Évelyne Lagrange is a professor of public law at the Sorbonne Law School, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and director of the Masters research in Public International Law and International Organizations at the university. Her research focuses on international organizations and the relationship between domestic and international law. She is the author of a study on the application of investment agreements in domestic legal systems in a book directed by S. Cuendet, Droits des investissements étrangers, Larcier, 2017 (to be published).

Laurence Dubin is a professor of public law at the Université Paris 8 Saint-Denis and director of the legal research laboratory, Forces du droit. Her research includes international trade law .

(2) Joint interpretative instrument on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union and its Member States : http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc...

Comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) between Canada, on the one part and the European Union and its Member States on the other part- Statements to the Council minutes
http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc...