Signing EU-US TTIP Free Trade Deal Impossible Without EU-Canada CETA

The EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free-trade deal is impossible to establish without Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada, according to a source in the EU Parliament.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free-trade deal can only be signed, if the European Union and Canada seal their Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a source in the EU Parliament told RIA Novosti Monday.

The European Council failed to approve CETA due to Wallonia, a region in Belgium, not giving the country its approval to sign the agreement. The Walloon government voted against the trade deal for fear it would water down EU labor, consumer and environmental protections, and give too much power to multinationals.

"TTIP is impossible without CETA," the source said.

According to reports, Andre Antoine, the president of the Walloon parliament, lashed out at the European Union on Monday for trying to force his administration into unblocking the controversial CETA trade deal with Canada. European Council President Donald Tusk has reportedly given Wallonia until late Monday to figure out its stance on CETA.

CETA aims to establish a free trade zone between Canada and the European Union, scrapping more than 98 percent of the existing tariffs between Ottawa and Brussels. Opponents fear it would undermine standards and regulations on environmental protection, health, safety and workers' rights.

The political agreement to sign CETA was reached in 2013 and the signing is expected to take place at a summit on October 27. It needs to be endorsed by all EU member states.

CETA is an analogue of the TTIP, which the European Union is negotiating with the United States. Both agreements has been labeled by opponents as only benefiting transnational corporations.