Bulgaria and Romania could veto CETA over visa issues

Canada’s continued insistence that Bulgarians and Romanians need visas to visit this country could block key parts of the Canada-Europe free-trade agreement from coming into force, a top European leader [has] warned...

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said portions of the deal will likely require ratification by European Union member states, giving the disgruntled governments of Bulgaria and Romania a powerful veto tool...

Nonetheless, Mr. Schulz said he is optimistic the visa dispute can be resolved soon, adding that European officials will be watching closely how Canada resolves a similar dispute with Mexico.

The Canadian government is considering lifting visa requirements on Mexico before a planned visit to Ottawa in June by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Ottawa is apparently ready to waive the visa rule in exchange for Mexico agreeing to share more information about travellers before they land in Canada...

A spokesman for Ms. Freeland said Ottawa is “engaged in positive, ongoing dialogue with Romania, Bulgaria, and the European Commission on this issue.” Alex Lawrence added that Canada is committed to “working towards visa-free travel for all [EU] citizens.”

Mr. Schulz, a German politician, also pointed out that as much as 80 per cent of the agreement could be ratified by the EU council and the European Parliament by December or January at the latest.

Canada and the EU concluded negotiations on the free-trade agreement in 2014. But a lingering disagreement over a provision that allows private investors to sue governments had stalled the ratification process in Europe.

Earlier this year, the Trudeau government agreed to reopen the agreement to create a permanent investment court to handle disputes...

The next step for Europe is to determine how much of the trade deal strays into areas of so-called “mixed competence” between the EU and the 28 member states. Once that’s done, the agreement can be put to a vote in the European Parliament in December, Mr. Schulz said.

The hope of both sides is that the deal – officially called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA – can be signed this year and put into force in 2017...

This has been excerted from 18 May 2016 edition of The Globe and Mail.