The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada may not be passed by the deadline this week. Politico reports one of Belgium’s regional leaders vowed on Tuesday not to support the deal by Friday, and Belgium cannot sign the agreement without consent from its five regional parliaments. Further, the EU cannot ratify CETA without unanimous support from its members. The European Commission will vote Friday on the trade agreement after postponing Tuesday’s vote. The deal must be approved this week to be signed at next week’s trade summit with Canada. The deal is seen as a test of whether or not the EU still has the power to negotiate trade deals. CETA is also considered a precursor to the success of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being sought between the United States and the EU. Failure of CETA would be another likely death blow to TTIP, which negations for broke down at a recent meeting. Many political leaders involved in the talks say TTIP is effectively dead at this point. Meanwhile, farmers in the EU protested both trade deals last weekend.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.