Canada-EU trade deal collapses
OTTAWA — International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland threw up her hands and walked away Friday from talks aimed at convincing the holdout Belgian region of Wallonia to agree to the European Union’s wide-ranging free trade deal with Canada.
Freeland spent much of the day in talks with Wallonia’s leaders and European Commission officials in Brussels, hoping to convince the holdout Belgian region to withdraw its opposition to the long-sought deal.
Moments afterward, a dejected Freeland said that she was giving up and going home — a despondent statement that suggested the deal was all but dead.
“I personally have worked very hard, but it is now evident to me — evident to Canada — that the European Union is incapable of reaching an agreement, even with a country with European values such as Canada, even with a country as nice and as patient as Canada,” Freeland said in French.
“Canada is disappointed and I personally am disappointed, but I think it’s impossible. We are returning home. At least I will see my three children tomorrow at our home.”
Shortly afterward, her comments were distributed in both official languages by her office, touching off an outraged reaction from the Opposition Conservatives, who forged the Canada-EU agreement when they were in power.
“Roll up your sleeves and don’t leave,” demanded Gerry Ritz, the party’s trade critic and former agriculture minister.
Ritz said he and former trade minister Ed Fast sat through some tough negotiations with Europe and “agonized for hours” over the fine print. The deal was seven years in the making — six of them under then-prime minister Stephen Harper.
“You don’t complete a deal this comprehensive by walking away at the final hours,” Ritz said.
Paul Magnette, Wallonia’s president, struck a slightly more optimistic note Friday, saying “difficulties remain” in the talks — notably the politically sensitive issue of how multinational corporations could challenge states under the deal.
He said the talks would continue, but suggested any deal might not be ready in time for a planned visit to Brussels next week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He called for the EU-Canada summit scheduled for next week to be postponed in order to “give ourselves time.”
The EU’s internal dispute centres on persuading the president of the Belgian region of Wallonia to climb down from his opposition to the deal.
Because of Belgium’s constitution, Wallonia — a tiny region of 3.5 million people — now holds a deal-killing veto over the pact between the EU’s 500 million citizens and Canada.
Unless Wallonia can be persuaded to change its mind, the agreement officially known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement could well go down in flames.
EU President Donald Tusk said Thursday that if the EU can’t convince people that trade agreements are in their interest, then “I am afraid that CETA could be our last free trade agreement.
With the deal in peril, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has held back from announcing whether he will attend the Oct. 27 Canada EU summit, a date set months ago as the official signing date for the agreement.
The Walloons want more guarantees to protect farmers and fear being crushed by large trade deals, including the one with the United States that would be pursued if CETA succeeds.