Ceta Talks: Last-Ditch Bid to Save EU-Canada Trade Deal

Local Editor

Emergency talks are under way in Brussels in an effort to save an EU free trade deal with Canada [Ceta], blocked by a Belgian region.

European Parliament head Martin Schulz is to hold separate talks with Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and the head of Belgium's Wallonia region.

Freeland abandoned talks on Friday, after seven years of negotiations.

Failure to reach agreement on Ceta would call into question the EU's ability to forge other trade deals.

All 28 EU member states support the Ceta agreement, which was to be signed next week.

However, exercising its right under the Belgian federal constitution, Wallonia had called for clarity on safeguards to protect labor, environmental and consumer standards.

Freeland said it was clear that the EU could not reach agreement even with Canada, a country that shared European values.

"The ball is in Europe's court," she said on Saturday, arriving at the European Parliament. "We hope that it is possible to find a solution."

Tweeting that the parties could not stop at the "last mile", Schulz confirmed earlier that he would meet Freeland first, followed by talks with Paul Magnette, the premier of Wallonia.

Canada and the EU would eliminate 98% of tariffs under Ceta which was negotiated over five years between 2009 and 2014.

Features include new courts for investors, harmonized regulations, sustainable development clauses and access to public sector tenders.

Environmental activists, trade unionists and some leftist politicians are among those who oppose the deal.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team