Canada's trade minister said Saturday the “ball is in the EU’s court’ to save a landmark free trade deal, which is being blocked by the small Belgian region of Wallonia, after a meeting with the president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.
"We have done our job. We have finished negotiating a very good agreement. Now the ball is in Europe's court," Chrystia Freeland said after the meeting, and ahead of her flight home.
Supporters of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement(CETA) say the deal will boost the European Union economy by €12 billion ($13.4 billion) a year and create jobs.
The agreement, critically the EU's first with a Group of Seven country, would, according to supporters, increase trade between the partners by 20 %
However, Wallonia's Regional Assembly in Belgium fear the deal could lead to job losses and hit social welfare.
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