EU’s ‘job’ to save trade pact: Canada
Top EU lawmaker intervenes to salvage CETA talks
Canada turned up the heat on the EU yesterday saying it was the bloc’s “job” to save a trade pact put in doubt by a Belgian region’s refusal to sign on. Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian trade minister, was firm after leaving last-ditch talks with European parliament head Martin Schulz to salvage the proposed accord that is seven years in the making.
“Now the ball is in Europe’s court and it’s time for Europe to finish doing its job,” she said, adding that she was returning to Toronto yesterday. “I very much hope that I will be able to return here in just a few days to Europe with my prime minister and that we will be able to... sign this agreement with Europe on October 27.” Schulz also planned an 11th-hour huddle with Paul Magnette, head of Wallonia’s socialist government which is blocking the agreement between Ottawa and the 28-nation European Union. The Brussels meetings are aimed at “reviving CETA talks. We can’t stop at the last mile,” Schulz wrote on Twitter, referring to the agreement’s name. CETA would link the EU market of 500 million people with the world’s 10th biggest economy. The accord was initially scheduled to be signed next Thursday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Brussels-and Schulz said that that date remained in the diary.
“The problems are on the Europeans’ table and we have to try to resolve them,” he said. “This meeting was very constructive and will perhaps be decisive. “I remain optimistic.”
Canada blasted the European Union on Friday as incapable of signing international agreements, as talks to persuade Wallonia to sign up to the huge trade deal broke down. Freeland’s comments fed into warnings that the EU, beset by rising anti-globalization sentiment, may never be able to land any other deals including one with the United States.
“It seems obvious to me, to Canada, that the European Union is incapable now of having an international agreement, even with a country with such European values as Canada, and even with a country as kind and patient as Canada,” Freeland said Friday.
‘Democracy takes time’
Wallonia’s government chief Magnette told AFP on Friday that his Belgian region needed more time but that there was still scope for an agreement. “Democracy takes a little time, Magnette said. “I wasn’t asking for months, but you can’t carry out a parliamentary process in two days.”
The Walloon parliament earlier this week refused to let the federal Belgian government approve the deal between Canada and the European Union, which needs to be backed by all 28 EU member states.
Belgium has seven elected assemblies: the geographic regions of Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels; the three linguistic communities; as well as a parliament and senate at the federal level.
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said she was still hopeful a deal could be reached.
“We have engaged wholeheartedly with Wallonia the last days. Truly sad talks have been halted. Still hope to find solution in order to sign CETA,” the Swede said on Twitter. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada is opposed by anti-globalisation groups who say it is a test model to push through an even more controversial EU-US trade deal called TTIP, talks on which have also stalled.
There have been protests against both deals in several cities. Magnette on Friday pointed in particular to a highly controversial investment protection scheme buried in the deal that has drawn the fury of activists, and which is also involved in TTIP.
Wallonia enjoyed support from activist groups like Greenpeace which charged that the deal risked satisfying “corporate greed” and trampling on people’s rights and health standards on both sides of the Atlantic. British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday dismissed warnings that the EUCanada deal raised serious questions about whether London could strike a similar agreement after Brexit.
The Belgian region of Wallonia affirmed yesterday it still stands in the way of a trade deal between the 28-nation European Union and Canada, but its leader and a top EU lawmaker were cautiously optimistic that the standoff could be resolved within days.
“I think it’s worth taking a little more time,” Walloon leader Paul Magnette after European Parliament President Martin Schulz waded into the dispute to try to salvage the pact.
Politicians in Wallonia, which is smaller than New Jersey, argue that the proposed deal would undermine labor, environment and consumer standards and allow multinationals to crush local companies. They have vowed to block a pact that the world’s biggest trading bloc and Canada want to sign Thursday. Magnette said Wallonia still saw “some small difficulties.” He said a better deal would bolster EU standards and set a strong precedent for future trade talks between Europe and its trading partners.
Canada’s International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland walked away from the talks Friday on the verge of tears, saying that the EU appeared incapable of signing the deal. The pact was produced two years ago but must be endorsed unanimously.
After yesterday’s separate talks with Freeland and Magnette, Schulz said he was hopeful that a compromise could be found to clear the way for Thursday’s planned EU-Canada summit.
“To my eyes, there is no problem we cannot resolve,” Schulz told reporters. Freeland said “the ball is in Europe’s court and it’s time for Europe to finish doing its job.” She said she was heading back to Canada but hoped to return with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sign the CETA accord, short for Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
EU leaders have warned that failure to clinch the deal with Canada could ruin the bloc’s credibility as a trade partner and make it more difficult to strike such agreements with the United States, Japan and other allies. A similar free trade agreement being negotiated between the EU and the United States is facing far more opposition than the Canada pact. Progress on the American deal appears unlikely until a new US president takes office in January. —Agencies