CETA

The European Parliament has approved a landmark free trade deal with Canada. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) has been seven years in the making and its ratification is set to eliminate almost all trade tariffs between the European Union and Canada.

EU lawmakers backed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) by 408-254 votes despite crowds of protesters contesting the deal outside. All 28 governments will need to give their approval to finalise the process of ratifying the agreement.

“The ratification in all the member states will start, there will be a long process and in most countries without any problems, in some, with more discussions: "We will try to be there, we will try the effects of the Canadian agreement, try to calm some of the concerns,” said EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

The Belgian government and its regions have reached an agreement over the CETA trade pact between the EU and Canada, Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters in Brussels. Early in the morning he said on Twitter: “Belgian agreement on #CETA . All parliaments are now able to approve by tomorrow at midnight. Important step for EU and Canada".

Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau has cancelled a trip to Brussels, as Belgium failed on Wednesday to clear internal opposition to the EU-Canada free-trade pact (Ceta). "Canada remains ready to sign this important agreement when Europe is ready," Alex Lawrence, the spokesperson for Canada’s International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, told German news agency DPA.

Ceta, the trade agreement between Eu and Canada, could go in flame. Today, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland’s efforts to convince the holdout Belgian region of Wallonia to agree to the European Union’s wide-ranging free trade deal with Canada have ended without a resolution.
All 28 EU governments support the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), but Belgium cannot give assent without backing from five sub-federal administrations and French-speaking Wallonia has steadfastly opposed it. Wallonia counts about 3.5 million people, less than 1% of the 507 million Europeans CETA would affect. The deal aims to eliminate 98% of tariffs between Canada and EU.