A graph put together by Erik van der Marel, a Brussels-based economist and author of the blog Bruxenomics, shows that Wallonia, with its 3.5 million people, accounts for 0.45 percent of the EU’s trade with Canada. So much for people power! Sources for the graph: Erik’s calculations using Eurostat; OECD; Politico. Note: based on …
North America
Updated – CETA Freeland walks out of Wallonia talks
Last update on 21 October 2017. 17.00 CET. Canada’s trade minister walked out of talks with the Wallonian government on Friday (21 October 2016) afternoon. Fresh language in the ‘interpretative declaration’ of CETA agreed yesterday night (20 October 2016) between the Wallonian leader Paul Magnette and the EU …
Insight: CETA reveals structural flaws of Lisbon Treaty
We are very close to a deadline for the 28 European Union member states to endorse the flagship CETA agreement. Whether the Canadian trade agreement gets endorsed this week to pave the way for an EU Canada summit on Thursday (27 October 2016) or not: CETA is a lesson in what …
TTIP: Oettinger in conciliatory mode on digital
The Commission’s Commissioner in charge of the digital economy Günther Oettinger, and famed for erring on the defensive side when it comes to handling US digital firms and shield German telecommunications champions from their market dominance, has come back from a trip to the United States with a few conciliatory …
Germany says provisional application of CETA to fall through if deal rejected by one state
Germany has given the green light to the signing of the Canada EU trade deal at a Council meeting today following a ruling by its constitutional court that rejected requests made by NGOs to issue an injunction to the German government to stop the CETA approval process. But Berlin wants CETA …
CETA: three member states still to appease
As expected Belgium was not able to give the green light to the signature of CETA at a trade minister’s meeting this morning in Luxembourg. Romania and Bulgaria, though apparently not actively opposing signature of CETA, continue to express their ‘reservations’. Without unanimous approval, the painstakingly negotiated free trade agreement between …
CETA approval still pending
It will be an all-nighter for Paul Magnette ahead of an EU trade ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg today (18 October 2016). But the deadline to approve CETA as planned will most likely be missed. The minister president of the region of Wallonia is holding up the approval by Belgium of the …
CETA: the very final countdown
So this morning Paul Magnette, the minister president of Wallonia, has announced he would order the federal government of Belgium not to sign CETA later this month. The federal government is bound by this. So is it over for CETA? At a first glance, yes. Are there any ways …
CETA: all eyes on Belgium
Today all eyes are on Belgium as the Wallonian parliament, with a majority of deputies having pronounced themselves against CETA, is to rule today (Fridat 14 October 2016) whether it will bloc signature of the EU Canadian trade deal. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has warned Wallonians that such …
German constitutional court greenlights signature and provisional application of CETA
The powerful constitutional court of Germany has rejected a series of NGO requests to have it block the German government from greenlighting the signature of the Canada EU trade agreement CETA scheduled for next week (18 October 2016). It also refused to give an injunction to the German government to refuse provisional …
