The European Union has fluffed one of its hardest-fought trade agreements, which could be left dead in the water by nation-by-nation in-fighting.
Trade experts admitted that an accord between the EU and Canada, seven years in the planning, did not have enough support to be passed.
The failure is fuel for advocates of Britain’s decision to leave the EU, who argued that the UK is better off striking faster, nimbler agreements of its own.
#CETA kolotoumba by @EU_Commission: National parliament will indeed have a say.
Agreement will be a tough sell in many member states.— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) July 5, 2016
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström (pictured above) tried to put a brave face on the deal – first proposed in 2009 – at a press conference today.
But she was forced to admit that a backlog of complaints from national capitals mean that EU bosses feel incapable of pushing the agreement through without approval from each individual national capital.
This means facing the tall prospect of securing agreement from 38 separate legislatures, each with their own axes to grind.
Bulgaria and Romania in particular are not keen on passing the agreement until Canada agrees to relax visa requirements for its citizens.
According to the Financial Times, the weight of opposition could be enough to completely kill the deal.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Malmström was forced to deny that the handling of the deal essentially marks the end of the EU’s ability to strike such agreements by itself.
In the typical style of a haughty Brussels boss, she warned member states not to “infect” her deal-making by raising the petty concerns of their electorate.
She said: “The risk to end EU trade policy is that member states infect this debate by refusing the content of this agreement with a general malaise, general anti-global sentiment in their member countries.
Malmström then warned leaders against “not showing the adequate leadership” when putting her deal to their peoples.
Viewed through the prism of Brexit, the faltering deal could be a bargaining chip for the UK – which has the ability to hold up the Canadian accord for the rest of its time in the EU.
Lethargy on the Canada deal – and poor progress on other vaunted projects including a tie-up with India – is in contrast to green shoots of progress between the newly-freed UK and other national governments.
Most significantly, a bill is progressing through the US Congress proposing a “front of the queue” arrangement for Anglo-American economic co-operation, in defiance of prior threats from President Barack Obama.
