LUXEMBOURG, (Sputnik) — An EU-Canada Summit, scheduled for October 27-28, is expected to see the CETA signed. On Tuesday, the EU trade ministers are expected to initial the deal, while the adoption requires unanimous agreement of all 28 EU member states and ratification by the 40 EU national and regional parliaments. On Friday, the Belgian regional parliament of Wallonia passed a resolution against CETA, putting the signing of the deal at risk. The decision followed the Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s approval of a similar resolution.
"I hope that this will be achieved tomorrow, if not — at the end of the week, at the summit of [EU] heads of state and government," Reynders told reporters in Luxembourg.
CETA, which was negotiated between 2008 and 2014, is expected to become Canada's biggest bilateral initiative after the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signatories of which are Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
If signed, CETA will eliminate almost all the tariffs between Canada and the European Union. Public fears remain that the deal will water down EU standards dealing with environment, health and food safety, and the concern resulted in multiple anti-CETA protests all across Europe.
