[LINK] "Prime Minister Trudeau signs Canada-EU trade deal in Brussels"

[rfmcdonald]

Finally! The Globe and Mail shares the Canadian Press report about the good news.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European leaders have signed Canada’s free trade deal with the EU in Brussels.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA, was reached after seven years of negotiation.

[. . .]

The Prime Minister’s Office says Trudeau spoke on Friday with European Council president Donald Tusk, who confirmed the texts of the deal, along with a side agreement known as the Strategic Partnership Agreement, had been approved for signature.

The deal’s supporters say it will boost trade by billions through cuts in tariffs across a broad swath of sectors including agriculture, pharmaceuticals and the auto industry.

The prime minister’s trip to Brussels got off to a bit of a bumpy start, with a mechanical problem forcing his flight to return to Ottawa about 30 minutes after it took off Saturday night. After more than an hour on the ground the flight left again and continued on to Belgium without further incident.

Canada will have to pass implementing legislation, which will move through the Commons easily because the Liberals have a majority of the seats. The European Parliament will also need to approve it, and EU watchers say this should not be a problem because there are enough votes behind the deal.

About 95 per cent of the agreement, including tariff reductions and the lowering of other trade barriers, can take effect after the European Union and Canada pass it. Barring unforeseen events, this is expected to happen in early- to mid-2017.