"The federal government, the German-speaking government and the Flemish government agreed to give a go-ahead to the signing of the treaty. Contrarily, the Walloon government, the Brussels government, the government of Federation Wallonia-Brussels and the French Community Commission responded negatively," the minister said as quoted by the national broadcaster RTBF.
The European Council gave Belgium until late Monday to figure out its stance on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which will abolish 98 percent of trade tariffs.
Walloon Minister-President Paul Magnette said earlier today that each time an ultimatum was issued to them it made any democratic debates impossible, and warned his government would never act under pressure.
Wallonia’s government fears that a trade pact with Canada in its current form will water down EU labor, consumer and environmental protections, and allow multinationals to sue national governments. The pact needed all 28 EU member states to sign it before a summit with Canada on Thursday.
