BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – Earlier on Thursday, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that the European Union and Belgium had reached a common position on signing CETA trade deal.
Coreper over w/positive outcome — approved #CETA package & agreed on written procedure for adoption by @EUCouncil till Friday midnight.
— EU2016SK (@eu2016sk) October 27, 2016
Brussels and Ottawa were expected to sign the free trade deal at a joint summit on Thursday, but Belgium’s region of Wallonia refused to give the country its approval to sign the deal. Under the Belgian legislation, every region has a right to reject the accord.
CETA, if approved, would eliminate the vast majority of the existing tariffs between the European Union and Canada, but the opponents fear that it would negatively affect standards and regulations on environmental protection, health, safety and workers' rights.
