BRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The parliament of the French-speaking community in Belgium backed a motion late on Wednesday to prevent Belgium signing up to a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement, threatening to kill the entire deal.
EU trade ministers hold an emergency meeting on Oct. 18 to vote on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and have signalled they are seeking unanimous support for it to enter force.
Belgium's federal government favours the pact, but needs the backing of the country's three regions and linguistic communities to give its formal approval.
Lawmakers in the regions of Wallonia and of Brussels are also expected to oppose CETA, which they see as a threat to public services and to farmers, through a flood of imported pork and beef. They also reject what they see as its over-protection of foreign multinational firms. experts say failure to seal a deal with Canada will undermine the EU's credibility as a potential trade partner as it seeks further trade alliances with the United States, Japan and a series of other countries.
It could also dim the prospects for Britain of quickly forging a new trading arrangement with the EU after it has left the bloc.
Germany's Constitutional Court gave the green light on Thursday for the German government to give its approval to CETA. Backing from Austria and Slovenia remains uncertain.