Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU and Wallonia still stuck on Canada accord

  • Wallonia wants a legally-binding declaration to interpret the EU-Canada deal (Photo: Peter Teffer)

[Updated at 07.12 on 21 October] The Walloon government rejected on Thursday evening (20 October) a compromise proposed by the EU to overcome the Belgian region's opposition to the Canada-EU free trade deal, Ceta.

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker later said negotiations will continue on Friday morning.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I am still hopeful that we will come to a good result in the course of the night and tomorrow morning," he said.

"If we can't conclude this trade arrangement with Canada, I don't see how it will be possible to conclude agreements with other parts of the world," he added.

***

On the sidelines of the summit, EU ambassadors held an extraordinary meeting in Brussels to discuss a revised declaration proposed by the European Commission in answer to Wallonia's concerns.

According to a source, the diplomats raised no objection at first sight to the revised text - an 8-page document that clarifies the trade deal and called joint interpretative instrument - intended to strengthen its legal value.

But Wallonia's leader Paul Magnette later said the changes were not sufficient. The region's parliament will meet on Friday morning to discuss the situation.

The Walloons are also planning to negotiate directly with the Canadians.

"For the Canadians, unlike the EU's position, there is still room for negotiations, and I will meet the [Canadian trade] minister and negotiator tomorrow [Friday] to discuss with them where it is still possible to improve the texts that were submitted to us on Thursday," Magnette said.

The new version of the interpretative document now includes safeguards on the right to regulate privacy and data protection, some amendments about labour rights, general services, public procurement, social security and insurance.

The revised document also introduces guarantees against excessive Canadian agricultural imports and addresses concerns about the investor protection court system.

The changes were made based on two rounds of negotiations between Wallonia and the EU commission.

The Walloon leader, Paul Magnette, who has been hailed as a hero by anti-Ceta campaigners, had met EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem on Wednesday.

The commission said the talks were "constructive" and a new version of the declaration was sent to Magnette Friday afternoon.

EU leaders are also expected to discuss the Ceta agreement on Friday in Brussels.

"Work will continue overnight," another EU source said and EU ambassadors are ready to meet when necessary.

All 28 member states have to agree before the EU can formally sign Ceta at a summit with the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in Brussels next week.

The Belgian federal government needs the consent of its regional entities, which Wallonia has so far refused to give.

Trade will top the summit's agenda on Friday and EU officials hope to convince Wallonia by then. One of the sources said that Canada wanted to know on Saturday at the latest whether the summit planned next week would actually take place.

Another negotiation is taking place between Canada on one side and Romania and Bulgaria on the other to overcome a second obstacle.

Romania and Bulgaria want guarantees from Canada that visa requirements will be lifted after Ceta is signed.

"We are waiting for Canada to give the two countries what they need" to endorse the deal, one of the sources said. The solution could be a timetable for a progressive lifting of visas for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens.

Stakeholder

EU-Canada trade deal is 'value-based'

At the ALDE pre-summit meeting, Syria, Russia, the Turkey migration deal, the refugee crisis and Brexit were among the topics discussed. But Ceta was the big issue.

Ceta failure deepens EU trade crisis

Canada said on Friday that the free-trade agreement with the EU had failed and that the bloc was "not capable" of concluding agreements.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us