CETA deal blocked as EU leaders convene in Brussels

Greens/EFA group MEP Reinhard Bütikofer has said that the failure to sign off the CETA trade deal highlights the need for the EU to develop a new trade policy.

Reinhard Bütikofer | Photo credit: European Parliament audiovisual

By Martin Banks

Martin Banks is a senior reporter at the Parliament Magazine

20 Oct 2016


He was speaking after EU trade ministers were unable to reach consensus on the EU-Canada trade agreement at Tuesday's Council meeting, as Belgium has stood in opposition to the deal.

Member states' approval of the deal has now been postponed until Thursday's summit of European leaders in Brussels.

The logjam has been created because Belgium was unable to agree on CETA as the French-speaking Walloon Region's Parliament voted last week to oppose the deal. The national trade minister was unable to go ahead with the agreement without the consent of its regional parliaments. 

Belgium has until the end of the two-day summit to give its authorisation, but the Walloon regional leader, Paul Magnette, rejected this deadline, saying "we won't be able to sign before Friday."

Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia present further problems to the deal being agreed, as they are still making it a matter of reaching a final agreement with Canada on visa regulation for their citizens, equal to those with all other EU member states.

The deal was expected to be approved by EU ministers in advance of the EU-Canada summit on 27 October, where it would be signed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström. 

However, Canada has signalled that unless opposition within EU member states can be overcome, Trudeau will not attend the summit.

Commenting on the now stalled CETA negotiations, Bütikofer said, "The failure to close the CETA deal shows that the European Commission's trade policy is increasingly unable to extricate itself from its internal contradictions. 

"Irrespective of whether CETA might fail or not, the EU must develop a new trade policy that is able to adequately integrate the different interests of corporations, trade unions, consumers, the environment and so on. 

"What does this mean for TTIP? It won't happen under Obama. Instead, TTIP needs a restart with a new negotiating mandate after a new US President is inaugurated."

Malmström was particularly frustrated by the delay, commenting, "It is about the credibility of the EU to conduct trade deals. If we can't make it with Canada, I don't think we can make it with the UK."

Further comment came from GUE/NGL group shadow rapporteur on CETA, Anne-Marie Mineur, who said she supports Wallonia in its position.

She said, "I am very pleased to see that the Walloon government has stood up against this agreement. They are courageously standing up for what is best for Belgians and all Europeans."

Mineur also raised concerns over the pressure that Belgium now faces: "They have been given three more days to find a way to agree on CETA. Millions of people across Europe will be watching anxiously and I sincerely hope that Belgium will be able to stay strong and resist the pressure to cave in to the neoliberal demands of this agreement.

"It is astounding that so much pressure is being put on Belgium over an agreement that has so little public support. This highlights the huge divide between the neoliberal people in power in the European Commission and the broader European public who largely oppose the agreement."

 

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