The leader of the Belgian region of Wallonia, Paul Magnette, who is also an academic, orchestrated a declaration on trade policy by leading professors across the West entitled the Namur Declaration. The three-page text, released on Monday (5 December 2016) calls for greater scrutiny of trade agreements by national and regional parliaments in …
Canada and CETA
Belgium to request opinion on ICS from ECJ after Singapore ruling
The Belgians are fighting internal tussles over how to follow up on the internal compromise achieved between the federal government, the Flemish regional bodies and the Wallonians ahead of the signature of the EU Canada trade pact CETA early November this year. Charles Michel has tabled a motion in …
CETA ratification in EU Parliament to face delay
The European Parliament intended to rush through the ratification of the much-contested CETA agreement before Christmas. After having rejected a motion for a resolution by rebel centre-left MEPs to put CETA to scrutiny at the Court of Justice on Wednesday, the hope of a swift ratification faded quickly. There …
Strong far right support for failed CETA ECJ referral resolution
VoteWatch.eu has released the details of yesterday’s (23 November 2016) vote on a resolution requesting the European Parliament to ask the Court of Justice to verify the legal compatibility of the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) proponents hope to see come into force provisionally in early 2017. The left-wing move has …
Updated: trade in the Parliament 21-24 November
The European Parliament is sitting in a plenary session from 21 t0 24 November 2016. A few agenda highlights: The Parliament will vote on a package of measures to combat wildlife trafficking on Tuesday (22 November). The report by MEP Catherine Bearder broadly endorses a plan presented by the Commission. It calls …
In brief: Anti CETA and TTIP protests not abating
Is the final green light to CETA signature given by the Walloon government late October radicalising the anti CETA and TTIP protest movement? There are signs this is the case. On Thursday evening demonstrators put on a big anti CETA show in front of the EU Parliament on place du …
Analysis – After CETA: what next for the deal and for EU trade policy?
The dramatic CETA episode has clearly weakened the Commission’s hand in trade policy, and dented the EU’s reputation as a reliable partner, Iana Dreyer finds. So the EU has managed to obtain unanimous backing by its 28 member states of the CETA agreement with Canada after all. The flagship …
Belgian compromise: Wallonia can still veto CETA
The Belgian media RTBF released the final text of the compromise hammered out between Wallonia, other regional entities in Belgium, and the Belgian federal government, on CETA today after three days of marathon talks in the small country that hosts the EU institutions. The deal paves the way for Belgian signature …
CETA: Wallonia obtains right to pull out, safeguard clauses
The government of Wallonia and the federal government of Belgium have reached an agreement on Wednesday (26 October 2016) afternoon that is expected to pave the way for a signature of CETA between the EU and Canada. But the final details of the deal are yet to be hammered out …
Early possible scenarios for CETA
Belgium is still not in a position to endorse the signing of CETA. Despite this announcement, following a telephone conversation between Council president Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada and the EU have decided not yet to cancel a bilateral summit scheduled on Thursday (27 October 2016), …
