Canada’s trade minister has said it is up to the European Union to rescue a landmark trade deal that is being blocked after the Walloon regional parliament refused to allow Belgium to sign the treaty. Now the ball is in Europe’s court,” she said after meeting Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament, before her flight home. I am truly very, very sad.”The trade agreement, which would eliminate tariffs on most goods between the EU and Canada, has been seven years in the making. And Cecilia Malmström, the EU trade commissioner, insisted it was not the end of the road for Ceta. Some also see the disintegrating Ceta deal as a bad omen for the UK, which wants to negotiate a post-Brexit free trade agreement with the EU.

Source: The Guardian October 22, 2016 10:13 UTC