Belgian talks on Canada-EU trade deal 'close,' but break for night without deal

Belgian talks designed to endthe deadlock over a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement endedon Wednesday without a breakthrough, but participants said theywould resume on Thursday morning.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel worked with the headsof Belgium's regions and linguistic communities to produce acommon text to allay their concerns about agricultural imports and a dispute settlement system that critics say could be abused by multinationals to dictate public policy..

"We made a lot of progress, but we are not there yet. Wewill continue tomorrow, but we are close to an agreement," saidOliver Paasch, the head of Belgium's 76,000-strongGerman-speaking community.

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European Council President Donald Tusk said earlier that aplannedEU-Canadasummit to sign the accord was still possible. It was originally planned for Thursday, but its timing now is unclear.

"As of this time, the summit remains on Europe's agenda and on Canada's agenda," International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters after question period in Ottawa. "If there is a deal to sign tomorrow, Canada will be there."

Belgium media reported late Wednesday that the text on the tableincludes details about how the deal would be applied provisionally and clarifications on the investor arbitration clauses. The reports also described the right to activate a safeguard clause should a market imbalance emerge for a single agricultural product.

Freeland said questions about the declaration would have to be answered by Walloons and by Belgians, becauseCanada ended itsnegotiations last Friday.

"It's a complicated process. We work, then we verifythings," said Paul Magnette, premier of the Walloon region,which has led Belgian opposition to a deal.

Belgium's centre-right government backs the ComprehensiveEconomic and Trade Agreement (CETA), but cannot sign up to theaccord unless it has assent from its regions and linguisticcommunities.

"I still hope that Belgium will prove that it is a consensus-building champion and that we will be able to finalize this agreement soon," Tusk told a session of the European Parliament.

Only the Dutch-speaking Flanders region, with a majority ofBelgium's population, supports CETA as it stands.

Investment arbitration still at issue

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the EuropeanParliament meeting in Strasbourg, France he was optimistic that there would be an agreement inthe course of the day, but it was not clear whether this wouldallow a signing on Thursday.

"When it happens is less important that than it happens," hesaid.

Canada can be proud of CETA says Pettigrew

8 years ago

Duration 8:26

Canada's CETA envoy, Pierre Pettigrew, discusses the stalled Canada-EU trade deal.

Magnette, the Socialist premier of Wallonia, said he was notlooking for Ottawa to relaunch negotiations.

"Between the EU and Canada the agreement is closed and weare very happy with that, but we still have some problems inEurope and Belgium and we're doing our best to solve them," hetold reporters as the talks paused.

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Magnettesaid a key hurdle was the issue of "private arbitration" in which multinationals can legally challengegovernments on policies.

He saidWallonia'sinsistence on a better deal would bolster EU standards and set a strong precedent for other trade talks between Europe and trading partners like the United States or Japan.

Tusk said that there would be consequences for Europe'sglobal position if it failed to strike a free trade deal withCanada, "the most European country outside Europe and a closefriend and ally."

'Ticking time bomb'

"Why is this politically-toxic foreign investor protection system not being taken out of the CETA, in order to save the overall trade agreement?" said trade lawyer and author Gus Van Harten at a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday.

Van Harten, a critic of taking dispute arbitration out of the hands of domestic courts, told reporters that CETA is "a radical step": the first in a wave of new trade agreements that go far beyond lowering tariffs.

The decision to include itwas made by the previous government, he noted.

A rewrite ofthe previously-negotiated investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions last winter wasnot sufficient, he said, to address all the concerns about transparency and independence in arbitration.

He's sympathetic to Wallonia wanting to take the time to address these issues, he said, while emphasizingconcerns over ISDS extend far beyond Belgium.

"When Ed Fast and the Conservatives, and Gerry Ritz have been attacking [International Trade Minister] Chrystia Freeland, saying they left her a "gift-wrapped package" on the front door, I think Prof. Van Harten has it right. They left her a ticking time bomb," Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said.

May, like her Green Party counterparts in Europe, opposes ratification.

"Anyone who knew anything about the opposition throughout Europe to the investor-state provisions knew this," she said. "This was never going to be a slam dunk, not with an investor-state provision in it."

Liberals left with 'ticking timebomb' in CETA

8 years ago

Duration 1:36

Professor Gus Van Harten and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May discuss the ticking timebomb left behind by the Conservatives for Chrystia Freeland and the Liberals to deal with in the CETA negotiations.

May used her question in the House of Commons Wednesday to ask Trudeauif he would consider removingthe controversial investor-state provisions.

Trudeaureplied thatCETAwas in "deep trouble" when the Liberals took office last fall, and that's why they sat down with the Europeans and created a newISDSapproach that "makes it the gold standard."

"We are confident that in the coming days we will see a positive outcome for this historic deal," he said.

Trudeau responds to 'ticking timebomb' in CETA

8 years ago

Duration 1:12

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question from Green Party Leader Elizabeth May regarding the 'ticking timebomb' of the foreign investor protection system within CETA.