Updated | Schulz confident EU-Canada free trade deal can be rescued

European Parliament president Martin Schulz has said he is “very optimistic” that a proposed free trade deal between the EU and Canada can still be signed soon, after emergency talks with Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and Wallonia’s Minister-President Paul Magnette.

Schulz said that Canada was ready to ratify the deal, but that the EU needs to solve its own problems following the collapse of talks on Friday when Belgium’s region of Wallonia vetoed the deal.

“I’m very optimistic that we can solve the problems in the EU,” Schulz said in a televised statement after meeting with Freeland.

Freeland abandoned CETA talks on Friday but said after her meeting with Schulz that “from Canada’s perspective, our work is done” and that she will be flying back to Toronto.

“I very much hope that…I will return here in just a few days to sign the free trade agreement,” she added.

All 28 EU member states support the proposed Ceta deal, which was set to be signed last week. However, Wallonia – a region of 3.6 million people – has warned that Ceta poses a threat to farmers and labour, environmental and consumer standards. Under Belgian constitutional law, each of its regional governments must back the deal before the federal government can sign it.

Freeland said on Friday that it was clear that the EU could not even reach an agreement with Canada, a country that shares European values.

“The ball is in Europe’s court,” she said on Saturday, when arriving at the European Parliament. “We hope that it is possible to find a solution.”

Under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta), Canada and the EU would eliminate 98% of trade tariffs. Features include new courts for investors, harmonised regulations, sustainable development clauses and access to public sector tenders.