MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Friday, the European Council agreed to sign beleaguered EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) hours after a regional Belgian parliament broke a federal impasse by voting to pass the deal.
Mission accomplished! Just agreed with PM @JustinTrudeau to hold EU-Canada Summit this Sunday
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) October 28, 2016
CETA aims to establish a free trade zone between Canada and the European Union. In 2013, Ottawa and Brussels reached an agreement on key elements of the deal. European critics of CETA claim it would undermine standards and regulations on environmental protection, health and safety and workers' rights.
The agreement was at first blocked by Belgium’s French-speaking region of Wallonia but on Thursday Prime Minister Charles Michel said that the parties had finally managed to reach consensus.
