On 13 April 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania published an official position with regards to EU-Canada relations. It stated it is disappointed with regards to the fact it might not receive visa liberalisation, just as Bulgaria, which other EU states are enjoying. The European Commission decided a day earlier it would not react to this discrimination by imposing visas for US and Canada nationals, as it could have dire economic consequences. A high Romanian official who was asked to explain the position, stated it would imply Romania would veto the EU-Canada free trade deal, as a consequence. Doing so, while unrelated, it links the visa deals with the free trade deals.

The CETA (Comphrensive Economic and Trade Agreement) and the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) deals with Canada and the US have been getting more and more critique over the past few months and years. It remains to be seen, whether they would be ratified in the end. Earlier in February 2016, the EU and Canada had agreed to amend the ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) clause, which was said to give big companies too much power, which is a general fear that is driving the anti-free trade movements.  

Apart from Romania's possible veto, the regional parliament of Belgium - Wallonia - might not ratify it either, and in the Netherlands, even though there has been no final deal yet with regards to TTIP, attempts (see here) are being made to organize a non-binding referendum in a similar way as it has been done on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Adding to the complexity, public support in both the US and Europe for such free trade deals are plunging (see here), due to a rising anti-globalization sentiment or economic nationalism, for which the IMF has also warned it could be a threat to the global economy.  

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