ANP
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NOS News•today, 17:01
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The PvdA party in the Senate will on Monday agree to the controversial CETA trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. Senator Koole announced this via de Volkskrant. Canada cannot be rejected as a trading partner, given the current situation in world politics, the PvdA believes.
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After objections, the party votes in favor of the treaty “because it strengthens Europe’s position in an unstable world and takes major steps forward towards a sustainable economy”, Koole said in a submitted article.
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The treaty is good for international trade, achieving the climate goals and for workers’ rights, says the PvdA.
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“If CETA is rejected, the old trade agreements between countries will apply again,” Koole writes. “And then as Europe you say no to a country that, like us, wants to promote the international legal order and takes the climate crisis seriously. You then weaken Europe, and that is simply what we cannot have now, given the international relations.”
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narrow majority
The party has gone from a dubious proponent to an opponent, to now a proponent. Former minister Ploumen defended the treaty as a minister, but the PvdA voted against it at the beginning of 2020, led by party leader Asscher, as an opposition party.
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As a result, the treaty was adopted with a narrow majority of 72 votes in favor – of the coalition parties and MP Van Haga – and 69 votes against. It was then expected that it would die in the Senate, because the coalition parties do not have a majority there.
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But now that the PvdA has changed its position, that majority is still in sight. The coalition parties VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie have 32, with the six senate seats of the PvdA added to 38 of the 75.
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Yesterday the Party for the Animals and BBB called in the AD the PvdA and JA21 have yet to vote against. The political opponents are joining forces on this dossier. “Because there is one point where our parties stand shoulder to shoulder,” write party leaders Ouwehand and Van der Plas.
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“It is completely unfair to require Dutch farmers to become more sustainable and to impose stricter environmental rules, while at the same time exposing them to competition from farmers from outside Europe, who already do not have to comply with European rules.”
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For many Dutch farmers, this leads to “bankruptcy due to unfair competition”, the two parties say. A large part of the agricultural sector has been against the treaty for years.
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GroenLinks, the party with which the PvdA wants to collaborate, is against. JA21, represented in the Senate by the Nanninga faction, will also vote against.
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On Monday, the Senate will debate CETA all day with Minister Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. After Ploumen (PvdA) and Kaag (D66), Schreinemacher (VVD) is the third foreign trade minister to deal with the treaty.
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There will be a roll call vote on Tuesday.
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