EU trade director 'warns bloc could be close to death' if Canada deal collapses

The European Union’s Director General for Trade, Jean-Luc Demarty, warns there could be a 'big credibility problem'

The European Commission building (Getty)

A senior EU official has warned the bloc’s trade policy will be “close to death” if it does not manage to ratify a trade agreement with Canada.

The European Union’s Director General for Trade, Jean-Luc Demarty, warned there would be a “big credibility problem” if the agreement didn’t go through.

Mr Demarty issued the warning at the EU’s trade policy committee, according to notes seen by Politico.

“Canada is a third country which stands very close to the EU. If the EU is not able to ratify this agreement, the EU trade policy would have a big credibility problem - it would be “close to death,” the leaked notes reportedly say.

The comments were confirmed by two other diplomats who claimed this was typical of Mr Demarty’s “helpless” tone on the subject, Politico reported.

The EU-Canada trade deal, referred to as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), has taken seven years to negotiate and requires approval in Europe’s 38 national and regional parliaments.

An EU-Canada summit is scheduled for 27 October but the deal may not be passed by then.