Belgium reaches agreement with region to back EU-Canada deal on free trade
THE Belgian government has reached an agreement to back the free trade deal between the European Union and Canada.
It comes on the day the agreement was supposed to be officially signed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Belgian PM Charles Michel was able to announce the agreement following days of negotiations with the region of Wallonia.
The region has veto power in Belgium and the broader EU needs unanimity among its 28 member states. The deal will go through regional legislatures by tonight.
Mr Trudeau was due to travel to Brussels on Thursday to sign the deal, but those plans were effectively scrapped as the negotiations with Wallonia dragged on.
The agreement was a huge relief to EU leaders, who had started negotiating the pact with Canada seven years ago.
“This is good news,” said Mr Michel, adding that the new text of the deal provides guarantees for farmers and on a corporate dispute settlement system that “will allow us to sign the deal”.
EU President Donald Tusk said he would contact Mr Trudeau “only once all procedures are finalised for EU signing CETA”, as the deal is called.
Alex Lawrence, the spokesman for Canada’s trade minister, said hours before the country was prepared to sign the deal whenever Europe is ready.
Mr Trudeau earlier told Parliament he is prepared to wait longer.
“We are confident that in the coming days we will see a positive outcome for this historic deal,” Mr Trudeau told Parliament.
Beyond the Belgian regional parliaments backing the agreement, the adjustments would have to be vetted by the 27 other nations. That makes a signing ceremony on Thursday impossible.
Politicians in Wallonia, which has a population of 3.6 million compared with over 500m for the EU, argue that the proposed accord would undermine labour, environment and consumer standards.
Proponents say it would yield billions in added trade through customs and tariff cuts and other measures to lower barriers to commerce.
The EU says it will keep in place the region’s strong safeguards on social, environmental and labour issues.