The debate on CETA in the Dutch Senate, which will be scheduled after the summer break, can be considered as a precedent for other countries to follow. In the second round of written questions (which is still awaiting response from the government), the Greens and Labour – backed by a broad coalition of parties – have asked the government to respond to the letter. The parties also inquire whether the government agrees that CETA, in its current form, would alter the constitution. If so, this would imply that a two thirds majority is needed to approve this modification. Specifically, they ask for a motivated rationale “substantiated with relevant advice/rulings from courts or (international) legal scholars.” If such an advice would be requested by either government or the Senate itself, the ratification of CETA will be postponed even longer.
This autumn, the debate about CETA in the Netherlands is entering a crucial phase. While the controversial agreement passed the Dutch national parliament (Tweede Kamer) with the smallest possible majority, its ratification by the Senate is not at all certain. The Government coalition parties have only 32 out of 75 seats in the Senate, and need at least 38 in order for CETA to pass. It is safely said that most opposition parties will vote against the agreement. Much depends on the final vote of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) in the Senate.
CETA has a salient history in the Labour Party. While it was the former Dutch trade minister Lilianne Ploumen from Labour who negotiated and defended CETA as the new “golden standard” for future trade agreements, Dutch Labour in the European Parliament abstained in 2017. When the agreement was put to the vote in the Dutch parliament, this time defended by the current minister Kaag from the liberal party D66, the Labour Party voted against it. Initially, Labour were of the opinion that the CETA agreement as it was negotiated left enough space for substantial improvements. But after two years, that opportunity was lost due to a lack of sufficient action on the side of government.
