Comment: Ceta is an EU success story and the hostility to it is misguided

The mutually beneficial trade deal between Canada and the EU is a progressive agreement and it responds to the challenges of the 21st century

Danny McCoy, chief executive of Ibec: ‘If the ratification of Ceta by the Irish government is further delayed, the signal sent to our trading partners is that the EU is becoming inward looking’. Picture: Feargal Ward

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Ibec represent a combined 200,000 businesses employing more than ten million people in both Canada and Ireland and the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreements (Ceta) between the two countries represents a significant opportunity for both. The political backdrop challenging its ratification in Ireland is misguided on a number of fronts.

For decades, we have seen a significant deepening of the trans-Atlantic economic and trade relationship between Ireland, the EU and ...