Belgium to support trade deal
BELGIAN political leaders have reached a consensus in support of the landmark EU-Canada trade deal, Prime Minister Charles Michel said yesterday, raising hopes it can be signed soon.
“An agreement” has been found, Michel said after the latest round of marathon negotiations aimed at winning over holdouts in Belgium’s French-speaking communities who have held up the deal for the entire European Union.
Confirmation came swiftly from Paul Magnette, the chief of government of the southern French-speaking Wallonia and the leading holdout to the deal.
“We have finally found an agreement among the Belgians that will now be submitted to European institutions and our European partners,” Magnette said.
“Wallonia is extremely happy that our demands were heard,” he added.
Angering Canada and European Union leaders who had conducted negotiations for seven years, Belgium had effectively blocked the deal, which must be endorsed by all 28 EU member states.
The intra-Belgian agreement was not reached in time for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to come to Brussels later yesterday for a signing ceremony as European sources said the summit had been cancelled.
There was no immediate announcement of a new date for signing the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).
The CETA pact would link the EU’s single market of 500 million people – the world’s biggest – with Canada’s 10th largest global economy in what would be the most ambitious tie-up of its kind so far.
Leaders of Wallonia, a 3.5 million-strong region south of Brussels, had demanded guarantees that CETA will not harm local farming and other interests.
Magnette had especially opposed terms of the deal intended to protect international investors which critics say could allow them to force governments to change laws against the wishes of the people.
Belgian leaders late on Wednesday adjourned marathon talks aimed at ironing out lingering differences blocking the deal and agreed to meet again yesterday morning.
The Belgian federal government had reported that it was near a consensus that would allow it to overcome objections from Belgium’s Frenchspeaking communities.
Brussels said it needed more time to iron out technical issues before it could throw its support behind the CETA.
With no agreement in sight, Trudeau’s office said he had postponed plans to travel to Brussels, adding the “Canadian delegation will not be travelling to Europe tonight”.
Belgium’s political leaders looked to a new round of talks aimed at resolving differences that have blocked a landmark EU-Canada free trade deal.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders had said that representatives from the federal government and the country’s linguistic communities would resume their talks after adjourning before midnight on Wednesday without an agreement.
He had earlier reported the sides were near a consensus that would allow Belgium to overcome objections from its French-speaking communities and support a trade deal which must be endorsed by all 28 EU member states.
But he added technical issues still needed ironing out.
“We are awaiting a definitive response from” the various communities, Reynders said as the talks wrapped up for the day.
EU leaders had voiced optimism that Belgium’s federal government could win over the holdouts by late on Wednesday.
The documents must now be sent for review to the ambassadors of all 28 EU member states, then likely return to the Wallon parliament and other Belgian government institutions.
In the last few days, a range of intensive talks involving Belgian leaders as well as EU officials have been held in a bid to break the deadlock.Hinging on its success are other trade negotiations, including even more controversial ones with the US.