MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union is likely to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada next week at the official signing ceremony in the framework of the bilateral summit, EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said Tuesday.
"I think that next week we will be able to sign [the agreement] with Canada," Malmstrom said upon her arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, where trade ministers of the EU countries were to adopt a joint declaration with binding interpretation of CETA's terms on specific issues.
Malmstrom said that although some of the parties were not quite ready to sign yet, she and other advocates of the deal were working closely with them to mitigate their concerns.
She added that if the agreement with Canada was not signed, it would reflect badly on the bloc's reputation as a reliable trade partner.
It comes as the EU-Canada summit originally scheduled for October 27-28 might be postponed due to the French-speaking Belgian region of Wallonia's objections to the agreement, a diplomatic source in Brussels told RIA Novosti earlier in the day.
CETA aims to establish a free trade zone between Canada and the European Union, scrapping more than 98 percent of the existing tariffs between Ottawa and Brussels. Opponents fear it would undermine standards and regulations on environmental protection, health, safety and workers' rights.
