The EU’s trade deal with Canada was yesterday pulled back from the brink¹ after Belgian regional leaders dropped their objections to the country’s government signing the pact² in an eleventh-hour rescue.

欧盟与加拿大的贸易协议昨日从悬崖边缘被拉回，此前最后一刻的挽救努力奏效，比利时的地方领导人放弃反对该国政府签署协定。

The agreement came just hours after Justin Trudeau, Canada’s premier³, cancelled a trip to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement in Brussels.

在有关各方达成协议的几小时前，加拿大总理贾斯廷.特鲁多(Justin Trudeau)取消前往布鲁塞尔签署《综合经济与贸易协定》(CETA)的行程。

MPs in the French-speaking region of Wallonia, the Brussels region and the country’s tiny German-speaking region have been asked to confirm their approval of the Ceta treaty by midnight tonight.

讲法语的瓦隆大区(Wallonia)、布鲁塞尔地区以及该国微小的德语区的议员被要求在今晚午夜之前确认他们批准CETA条约。

Charles Michel, Belgium’s prime minister, said the regional parliaments would have “the last word” on a deal that would retain Belgium’s “credibility on the international stage”.

比利时首相夏尔.米歇尔(Charles Michel)表示，地区议会对于“保留比利时在国际舞台上的信誉”的一项协定将具有“最后发言权”。

Donald Tusk⁴, president of the European Council, said he would only contact Mr Trudeau “once all procedures are finalised” for the EU to sign Ceta.

欧洲理事会(European Council)主席唐纳德.图斯克(Donald Tusk)表示，“只有当所有程序都已完成”，欧盟可以签署CETA之后，他才会联系特鲁多。

There has been deep frustration⁵ among Ceta’s supporters at the failure of the Belgian regional leaders to approve a deal that the government in Brussels and those of 27 other member states had agreed to sign.

此前，对于比利时地方领导人未能批准该国和欧盟其他27个成员国政府已经同意签署的协定，CETA的支持者深感沮丧。

Mr Tusk has warned that a collapse⁶ of Ceta would have “obvious consequences” for Europe’s global position.

图斯克警告说，CETA半途而废将给欧洲的全球地位带来“明显后果”。

The Ceta affair has been deeply embarrassing for EU leaders, who had hoped the deal would prepare the ground for the even bigger Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership⁷ pact with the US. Instead the affair has raised questions over the ability of the EU to conclude complex deals that require the support of all the parliaments in the bloc⁸.

欧盟领导人曾希望该协议将为与美国达成更大的《跨大西洋贸易与投资伙伴关系协定》(Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership)做一些铺垫，因此他们对CETA遭遇的波折深感尴尬。与他们的初衷相反，这一波折令人质疑：欧盟有没有能力敲定那些需要得到成员国所有议会支持的复杂交易？

Belgium’s government strongly supports the deal but under the federal structure it cannot sign without regional approval. The national parliament backed Ceta as did the parliament in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.

比利时政府大力支持这项协议，但在联邦制下，如果没有地区层面的批准，它就不能签署。比利时的国家议会以及讲荷兰语的法兰德斯大区(Flanders)的议会支持CETA。

The parties came close to a deal on Wednesday but talks broke up — resulting in the cancellation⁹ of an EU-Canada summit. Before he cancelled his visit, Mr Trudeau said the logjam could still be broken. “We are confident that in the coming days we will see a positive outcome for this historic deal.”

各方在周三曾接近达成协议，但谈判后破裂，导致欧盟-加拿大峰会被取消。特鲁多在取消赴欧行程之前表示，僵局仍有望被打破。“我们相信，我们在未来几天将看到这个历史性的协议取得积极结果。”

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s trade minister, said the country was ready to sign this important agreement “when Europe is ready”.

加拿大贸易部长克里斯蒂娅.弗里兰(Chrystia Freeland)表示，该国准备签署这一重要协议——“只要欧洲准备就绪”。