EU expected to sign Canada trade deal within days

The European Union is expected to sign a landmark trade deal with Canada in the coming days after Belgium overcame internal divisions and backed the deal.

Almost two weeks after the regional parliament of Wallonia voted against a comprehensive economic and trade agreement between the EU and Canada, Belgian prime minister Charles Michel announced at midday on Thursday that intra-governmental disagreements had been overcome and the country would sign the trade pact.

Though too late to avert the cancellation of a high-profile EU-Canada summit on Thursday, European Council president Donald Tusk is expected to re-schedule the meeting with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, perhaps as early as this weekend.

Nonetheless, the affair has opened up fundamental questions about the European Union’s ability to strike trade deals, after Wallonia successfully blocked the ratification of the agreement leading to the last-minute cancellation of the summit.

Breakthrough

Thursday's breakthrough came shortly after noon in Brussels, hours after EU officials confirmed that the scheduled summit would not proceed. While there were no changes to the 1,600-page trade agreement itself, Belgium succeeded in adding a four-page 'declaration' to the text which was sent to ambassadors representing all 28 EU member states on Thursday afternoon in Brussels.

While EU member states have now backed the deal in principle, Belgium’s various regional parliaments must still debate and vote on the deal by midnight on Friday.

Among the most important concessions secured by Belgium is a request that the European Court of Justice delivers a legal opinion to assess if a controversial investor court system is compatible with EU treaties. The arbitration system which allows corporates to sue national governments through a special court system has become a lightning rod for public opposition to the deal.

Negotiators also secured a guarantee that Belgium can undertake an impact assessment of ceta on the Belgian economy.

Paul Magnette, the head of the Wallonian parliament, which voted overwhelmingly against the deal on October 14th, told Belgian newspaper, Le Soir, that his parliament had secured important safeguards that would become the standard bearers for other trade deals. He said he was confident that the Parliament in Namur would back the deal on Friday.

Sorry

"I'm sorry for all other Europeans and our Canadian partners that they had to wait, but what we managed to get here is important not just for Wallonia but for all of Europe, " he said.

Wallonia was also joined by the French-speaking element of the Brussels-capital parliament in opposing the controversial deal, which has divided Belgium, setting socialist-dominant Wallonia against the pro-trade Flemish parliament in the north.

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel said the outcome was a “good agreement, a necessary agreement so that Belgium remains a country that is open, economically and diplomatically,” adding that it was an opportunity to show that Belgium remains credible on the European stage.

The EU-Canada trade deal, which proponents say will open up new opportunities for businesses and lead to lower costs for consumers, has galvanised anti-trade protestors across the globe, with many campaigners cheering Wallonia’s opposition to a trade pact that has been seven years in the making. Greenpeace, which has campaigned heavily against both Ceta and the proposed EU-US trade deal known as TTIP (transatlantic trade and investment partnership) welcomed the decision to refer the investor court to the European Court of Justice.

Threat

“Ceta remains a threat for the environment and public health, and the Belgian agreement doesn’t change that. But the decision to take investment protection provisions to the European court will finally determine the legality of Ceta, “ Greenpeace’s Shira Stanton said in Brussels, adding that it was “disgraceful” that it took two Belgian regions to achieve this change.