Key EU Ceta trade deal with Canada Blocked

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37749236

Belgians nationals living in the Wallonia region have objected to the signing of a key EU trade deal with Canada, known as Ceta (the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement). The largely socialist region has objected to the deal, demanding stronger safeguards on labour, environmental and consumer standards. The deal is greatly desired by 27 EU member nations. Citizens would see the elimination of 98% of tariffs, and a projected increase in trade of 20%. Finally, the deal (which has been in the pipeline for 7 years) would lead to an annual savings of €500 million in duties. However, there is still a possibility that the deal may go through.

It is not clear exactly who Ceta will benefit should the agreement be signed. Protesters against the deal in several EU cities argue that the deal will only benefit big business, and give too much power to multinational corporations. This lack of equity could see an increase in the inequitable distribution of wealth in EU member nations, as well as between different Canadian markets. The potential inefficiencies are seen in the fact that Canada will take measures to subsidise markets which are negatively affected by the deal. Some markets will even be subsidised for up to ten years, meaning that the government foresees a failure for the markets to readjust relatively painlessly. One could also argue that this is inequitable, because certain industries will receive higher amounts of aid in the form of subsidies, and  workers in other industries may end up in a relatively worse position without the same guaranteed income as say, dairy farmers, for example.