‘EU is LAUGHING STOCK of the WORLD!’ Bumbling officials scramble to save Canada trade deal

A HUMILIATED Eurocrat has branded the European Union “the laughing stock of the whole world”, as Brussels desperately attempts to salvage the floundering CETA trade deal with Canada. GETTY Geert Bourgeois said the EU was now the While all 28 EU member states support the CETA deal, the Belgian region...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inExpress (Online)
Main Author Millar, Joey
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London (UK) Express Newspapers PLC 25.10.2016
Subjects
Barter
Import quotas
International trade
Malmstrom, Cecilia
North American Free Trade Agreement
Canada
Belgium
United Kingdom > UK
Europe
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:A HUMILIATED Eurocrat has branded the European Union “the laughing stock of the whole world”, as Brussels desperately attempts to salvage the floundering CETA trade deal with Canada. GETTY Geert Bourgeois said the EU was now the While all 28 EU member states support the CETA deal, the Belgian region of Wallonia has overruled the entire agreement, to the embarrassment of those involved. Related articles Britain's post-Brexit EU trade deal could take DECADE Brussels chiefs in last ditch efforts to fix Canada trade deal fiasco Brussels is desperately scrambling for a solution to the problem, which a European expert today branded “a continual embarrassment to the EU”. GETTY The CETA deal was completely overruled by a regional Belgium authority The mess has led Canada to claim the EU will never be able to build an international trade deal with ANY nation, if it can’t even reach an agreement with its biggest supporters. Stephen Booth of think-thank Open Europe said: “There will be frustration from Canada and, clearly, other EU member states are increasingly unhappy this is being held up by a regional parliament.” Daniel Caspary of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade added: “We need to ensure that the Commission can again make trade deals, which are democratically approved by the EU’s own institutions. GETTY Canadian trade minister Chrystia Freeland walked out of the seven-year talks Christoph Leitl of the business alliance Global Chamber Platform said: “It’s crazy.