The European Union and Canada signed Sunday a landmark trade pact, ending days of drama after a small Belgian region refused to endorse the agreement and deeply embarrassed the EU.
The long-delayed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement was bedeviled by yet another hold up overnight when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plane had to return to Ottawa because of mechanical issues.
"What patience," exclaimed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as he embraced the arriving Trudeau at EU headquarters in Brussels.
- "The fact that throughout people were asking tough questions of a deal that will have a significant impact on our economies, and giving us the opportunity to demonstrate that that impact will be positive, is a good thing," Trudeau told a news conference following the signing.
The signing is a step that should enable a provisional implementation of the pact early in 2017 with the removal of most import duties.
Trudeau said provisional application would unlock 98 per cent of CETA's key measures and that consumers and businesses would immediately feel its benefits.
"We are confident that demonstrating that trade is good for the middle classes (...) will make sure that everybody gets that this is a good thing for our economies and that it is also a good thing for the world," Trudeau said.
