AFP, Brussels :
The EU and Canada finally signed a landmark free trade deal seven years in the making on Sunday, after overcoming last-minute resistance from a small Belgian region that nearly torpedoed the entire agreement.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Brussels for a ceremony that had been pushed back from Thursday after Wallonia with its population of 3.6 million initially vetoed a pact affecting more than 500 million people.
But in a sign of the fierce passions aroused by the giant Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), protesters burst through riot police lines and hurled red paint at the EU’s headquarters.
“That I be here today or three days ago is not going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of the real impact it’s going to have for this good deal to move forward,” Trudeau said after signing the pact with leaders of the EU institutions.
Cheers and applause erupted as they inked a long-anticipated deal that will remove 99 percent of customs duties between the two sides, linking the single EU market of 28 nations with the world’s 10th largest economy.
The leaders hailed the pact as good news after the Belgian drama, which sparked dire warnings for the EU’s credibility as it wrestles with Britain’s shock vote to leave, a huge migration crisis and the threat of a resurgent Russia.
The EU and Canada finally signed a landmark free trade deal seven years in the making on Sunday, after overcoming last-minute resistance from a small Belgian region that nearly torpedoed the entire agreement.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Brussels for a ceremony that had been pushed back from Thursday after Wallonia with its population of 3.6 million initially vetoed a pact affecting more than 500 million people.
But in a sign of the fierce passions aroused by the giant Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), protesters burst through riot police lines and hurled red paint at the EU’s headquarters.
“That I be here today or three days ago is not going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of the real impact it’s going to have for this good deal to move forward,” Trudeau said after signing the pact with leaders of the EU institutions.
Cheers and applause erupted as they inked a long-anticipated deal that will remove 99 percent of customs duties between the two sides, linking the single EU market of 28 nations with the world’s 10th largest economy.
The leaders hailed the pact as good news after the Belgian drama, which sparked dire warnings for the EU’s credibility as it wrestles with Britain’s shock vote to leave, a huge migration crisis and the threat of a resurgent Russia.
