Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union summoned envoys from its member states to an emergency meeting in Brussels at 8 p.m. local time on Thursday to seek a last-minute resolution to Belgian difficulties holding up a trade deal with Canada, diplomats said. All 28 EU governments support the planned Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement […] Read more
EU calls meeting to try to unblock Canada trade deal
Belgian region wants more time to fix CETA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels/Ottawa | Reuters — The premier of the Belgian region that is the main impediment to a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement on Wednesday advised postponing a summit next week to sign the deal and taking a few more months to fix outstanding issues. Walloon’s Paul Magnette spoke as pressure mounted on him to drop […] Read more
Brexit – good or bad for us?
While the ag sector looks for stability in currency markets, short-term price spikes and long-term trade agreements may get overlooked
Reading Time: 3 minutes Financial markets began to stabilize within days of the U.K.’s surprise Brexit vote this past June, but that doesn’t mean the vote has been shrugged off either by the big exchanges or by the markets that set the prices for farm commodities. It does mean, however, that the world is coming to terms with the […] Read more
Belgian ‘Non’ blocks EU approval of CETA
Reading Time: 3 minutes Luxembourg | Reuters — EU governments failed on Tuesday to approve a free trade agreement with Canada, as continued opposition from French-speaking southern Belgium threatened the entire deal. Almost all 28 EU governments, whose ministers were meeting in Luxembourg, now back the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which would be the bloc’s first trade […] Read more
Belgian ‘Non’ clouds EU meeting to approve CETA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Luxembourg | Reuters — European Union trade ministers meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday aiming to approve a free trade agreement with Canada but facing regional opposition in Belgium that threatens to scupper the entire deal. All 28 EU governments now back the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which would be the bloc’s first trade […] Read more
ChemChina, Syngenta ready to offer EU remedies over merger
Reading Time: < 1 minute Florence | Reuters — Chinese state-owned chemical company ChemChina and Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta are prepared to offer concessions to EU antitrust regulators to ease concerns over their US$43 billion deal, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. The companies will meet European Commission officials on Monday in a meeting called by […] Read more
CETA hits resistance in Belgian fortress Wallonia
Reading Time: 3 minutes Namur, Belgium | Reuters — The Belgian fortress city of Namur, besieged by European armies down the centuries, issued a declaration of war on the global economic order Friday, with a vote to reject a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement. The parliament of the region of Wallonia voted in its seat at Namur after a […] Read more
German court rejects bid to block Canada-EU trade deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Berlin/Ottawa | Reuters –– Germany’s Constitutional Court cleared the government on Thursday to approve a free trade accord between the European Union and Canada under defined conditions, boosting the agreement’s chances of passing an EU vote next week. However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made clear he was losing patience with the EU over the […] Read more
Germany’s top court hears CETA challenge
Reading Time: 2 minutes Karlsruhe, Germany | Reuters — Germany’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday began hearing a legal challenge to a planned EU-Canada free trade deal that could paralyze the accord. Three German activist groups handed in 125,000 signatures to the court in August in opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which they fear will undermine […] Read more
Belgian regions set to block CETA over farm concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters –– Southern Belgium is set to block a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement, threatening to undermine the European Union’s entire trade policy and serving as a warning to British hopes of a speedy deal after Britain has left the European Union. EU trade ministers will vote in a week on the Comprehensive […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
