Courtesy of Mish.
Despite intense negotiations for the past two weeks, an emergency meeting of EU officials, huge pressure on Belgian officials, and last second agreement changes to the trade pact, the Wallonia region of Belgium held firm and vetoed CETA, the EU-Canada trade agreement that had been in the works for seven years, and finalized two years ago.
It is rather amazing that a French-speaking region of Belgium can single-handedly veto a trade agreement that 28 nations including Belgium itself wanted, but such is the state of affairs of EU politics.
Please consider Belgium Sinks EU-Canada Trade Deal After Wallonia Veto.
European trade policy has been thrown into disarray after Belgium’s government said it could not overcome regional objections to an EU-Canada trade deal despite weeks of fruitless talks to rescue the agreement.
The so-called Ceta pact was to be signed at a ceremony in Brussels on Thursday at an EU summit with Justin Trudeau, Canadian prime minister.
Moves were under way on Monday to cancel the summit after Charles Michel, Belgian premier, said he could not sign the pact because of political resistance in Wallonia, the French-speaking region whose local parliament has voted against the agreement.
“The clear answer, at this stage, is no,” said Mr Michel in response to European and Canadian leaders who asked Belgium to clarify its intentions on Monday.
Ceta must be signed off by all 28 member states before it can take effect. Even though Mr Michel’s administration strongly supports the deal, it cannot be approved without regional support.
Each of the other 27 member states are ready to sign, meaning the deal has been blocked by representatives of 3.5m in a trading bloc representing more than 500m people.
Credibility Damaged
Last Friday, Chrystia Freeland, Canadian trade minister, walked out of talks with Walloon leaders. Negotiations and pressure continued over the weekend to no avail.
“Even if a solution is found in the coming weeks and months, the credibility of the EU as the world’s largest trading bloc has been damaged by the political grandstanding of the Walloon parliament,” said John Clancy, senior adviser at FTI Consulting in Brussels.
EU negotiations are typically last-minute affairs. I expected an agreement today following weekend pressure and a few trade agreement changes.
The deal may still go through, but serious questions about whether the EU can ever agree to another major trade deal are now in the spotlight.
