OTTAWA -- Canada appears to be discounting reports that the signing of its free trade agreement with the European Union might be delayed.
Thursday has been set for the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and EU leaders.
But Trudeau has yet to commit to attending the summit in Brussels, which was scheduled months ago.
The EU has yet to persuade the tiny Belgian region of Wallonia to drop its opposition to the pact, which is preventing Belgium from joining its 27 EU partners in approving the deal.
Reuters reported today that Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, has told a German radio station that he did not expect the deal to be signed this week.
A spokesman for International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada is ready to sign the pact on Thursday.
"As the minister has said, if there is an agreement to sign, Canada is ready," said spokesman Alex Lawrence. "The ball is in Europe's court right now."
On Monday, Freeland repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether Canada was prepared to sign the agreement after Thursday.
Freeland and Schulz met Saturday in Brussels before the minister left Europe, declaring that Canada was done working on the deal and that it was waiting on Europe to finish its part of the job.
