But the episode once morest CETA is also a symptom of Wallonia’s democratic vitality: of an organized civil society, of a parliament and elected officials who had succeeded in relaying the concerns of a large part of the population. The symptom of a certain Walloon pride too, even if the word is rarely used. A fleeting pride, fleeting like this CETA moment which already seems so distant in the parliament of Wallonia.
The CETA moment is interpreted in a wide variety of ways. Some see it as a protectionist reflex, a withdrawal into oneself like Brexit, others a populist reflex like the election of Trump, others still a democratic leap. On this show, let’s take a step back to better understand all of this.
And then, of course, there is the fundamental question posed by CETA, that of international trade treaties: has Wallonia changed the way in which the European Union negotiates these treaties? Did the Walloons really get something. What remains today of this opposition? We talk regarding it with one of the key players in this case, Arnaud Zacharie, secretary general of the National Center for Development Cooperation (CNCD-11.11.11). He was the first to draw the attention of Walloon parliamentarians to the challenges of CETA.
