BRUSSELS, Oct 14, (APP/AFP) – Lawmakers in the small Belgian region of Wallonia on Friday voted to block an EU-Canada trade deal in a move with serious implications for future trade talks with the US and a non-EU Britain. The parliamentary vote by the French-speaking part of southern Belgium hreatens to derail the long-delayed signing by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the pact, known as CETA, in Brussels later this month. “I will not give powers to the federal government, and Belgium will not sign CETA on October 18,” Paul Magnette, the socialist head of the Wallonia government, told an emergency session of the regional parliament. In a largely expected vote outcome, 46 MPs in the economically depressed area voted in favour of refusing the trade deal and 16 voted against the motion, with one abstention. Linguistically-divided Belgium’s seven different parliaments must first give the federal government power of signature for Belgium to give its official approval, under the country’s complex political system.
International News
Belgian region of Wallonia blocks EU-Canada trade deal
