International

In her role as Chair of the EU Council of Trade Ministers, Dutch minister Lilianne Ploumen – a member of the Labour Party (PvdA) - has put the signing and provisional coming into force of the controversial Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) on the agenda for the International Trade Council meeting scheduled for May 13th. This was revealed by the still unpublished agenda which the SP has managed to get hold of. In doing this, Ploumen is bypassing the European Court of Justice, which still has to give its advice on the question as to whether such treaties are an exclusive EU competence or whether the member states also have the right to take decisions independently. The SP calls on Ploumen to make signing the treaty conditional on the agreement of the member states’ national parliaments.

In the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published today by Transparency International (TI), Ukraine is once again to be found amongst the worst regions. Commenting on the finding, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong says: ´Ukraine can be found amongst countries like Paraguay and Nepal in 130th place out of a total of 167 countries. As if that weren’t bad enough, TI notes that the government is digging its heels in when it comes to taking the necessary measures against corruption. And with a country like that the EU should sign an Association Agreement? A no in the Ukraine referendum -and a no to companies who want to do business there and which have no hesitation in paying bribes.’