The following is an excerpt. To view the full article please visit the link below
Wallonia is a French-speaking region of southern Belgium and it alone is holding up a massive trade deal between the European Union and Canada.
Dan Ciuriak, a consulting economist and former deputy chief economist at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, said the Wallonia objections are about “protectionism.”
“The concerns are about the potential loss of jobs in agriculture and industrial materials,” Ciruiak told Global News. “This is traditional protectionist concerns about trade globalization and its impact on vulnerable sectors.” Ciuriak added that Europe’s current period of slow growth has made some member states resistant to sweeping trade deals like CETA …
* * *