The European Union’s parliament approved a trade deal with Canada in Brussels, extolling the pact as a sign of co-operation at a time when many political forces are trying to halt globalization.
The EU’s legislature approved the deal by a margin of 408 for, 254 against with 33 abstentions, allowing for its provisional entry into force.
The approved deal will drop barriers between the EU’s economy of half a billion people and Canada’s 35 million.
Trade between the two sides amounts to more than 60 billion euros ($63 billion) a year, and the EU expects the so-called CETA deal to boost this by 20 per cent by removing almost all tariffs.