On the eve of a summit between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Union leaders, Germany has signalled it’s putting the Canada-EU trade deal on hold.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was supposed to be symbolically concluded on Friday after five years of negotiations.
But German economic affairs minister Sigmar Gabriel said Thursday the country will not sign the deal unless a controversial clause allowing companies to sue governments is removed, Reuters reported.
According to sources cited by German news service Deutsche Welle, Gabriel “pulled the emergency brake in Brussels, and prevented the completion of the CETA deal.”
All EU member states and Canada have to sign the deal for it to become law.
Germany’s move sets up a showdown between Europe’s largest economy and the European Commission, which negotiated the deal.
European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht warned Thursday that “if we re-open negotiations on CETA, the deal will be dead.”
“I’m certain the debate is not over by a long shot,” Gabriel shot back in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday.