20 October 2016, 12:11 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – European Council President Donald Tusk expressed hope on Thursday that the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) would be achieved on October 21, also expressing fear that it would be the last free trade agreement Europe concludes.
"The negotiations are still going on as we speak, I hope that Belgium will once again prove that it’s a true champion in compromise-making and that on Friday we will have an agreement that will pave the way for signing CETA. But truly speaking the problem goes beyond CETA," Tusk told reporters.
"If were not able to convince people that free-trade agreements are in their interest, if we’re not able to convince them that our representatives negotiate the FTAs [free trade agreements] to protect peoples' interest we will have no chance to build public support for free trade. And I’m afraid that means that CETA could be our last free trade agreement," he added.
