Belgian PM says cannot sign off on EU-Canada trade deal

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BRUSSELS: Belgium is not able to sign off on a landmark EU-Canada free trade deal after Wallonia and other regional administrations refused to give the federal government the go-ahead, Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Monday.

“We are not in a position to sign CETA,” Michel said after brief talks with Belgium’s regional leaders in Brussels broke up without an accord despite a looming EU deadline of late Monday.

“The federal government, the German community and Flanders said ‘yes.’

Wallonia, the Brussels city government and the French community said ‘no’,'” he added.