CETA: is Brussels sidelining Belgium too?

Seven years after the Brussels parliament gave a negotiation mandate to the EU and two years after the conclusion of those negotiations, it looks like Brussels, following in the footsteps of Wallonia, wants to torpedo the European Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA). “With this attitude, Brussels is sidelining itself and mortgaging its own international and diplomatic credibility as well as that of Belgium,” reacts Brussels party leader Johan Van den Driessche with chagrin.

“This is a gigantic disgrace not only for Belgium but also for Brussels itself, because by doing this the Brussels-Capital Region is thwarting the European trade policy,” Johan Van den Driessche continues. “The economic consequences will be huge, but the Brussels policy makers don’t seem to care in the least about that.” Johan Van den Driessche finds the argument of Minister of External Relations Guy Vanhengel (Open Vld) that no green light will be given as long as the debate has not come to an end to be nonsense, certainly if you keep feeding that debate with incorrect information and ideological prejudices. “When Brussels is undermining its own credibility so thoroughly, what’s the further use of expensive image campaigns?,” he wonders.