Belgium Breaks Deadlock Over EU-Canada Trade Deal

BRUSSELS—A planned trade deal between the European Union and Canada overcame a key hurdle Thursday after Belgium said it would approve the accord, marking the end of a contentious process that threatened to derail the EU's trade agenda.

The so-called Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, has been on thin ice in recent weeks after opposition by Wallonia, Belgium's French-speaking region, has kept the country's leadership from supporting the deal.

"Belgian agreement on CETA," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel wrote on his Twitter account. "All parliaments are now able to approve by tomorrow at midnight. Important step for EU and Canada."

The accord needs the full backing of all 28 member states. But while the Belgian federal government supports the trade pact, it still needed the green light from its five regional authorities before it could give its official approval.

Following weeks of intense talks with the leadership of Wallonia and its other regions, Belgium finally got the green light to back CETA on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Belgian prime minister said the Belgian government had reached a deal with its regions to back CETA and that the text of the deal was sent to the EU so it could be approved by the rest of the bloc.

The news will be well-received by the EU, whose officials have been agonizing about what implications the inability to sign CETA would have on the bloc's trade agenda.

Write to Viktoria Dendrinou at viktoria.dendrinou@wsj.com and Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2016 07:55 ET (11:55 GMT)

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