Following the stalemate in negotiations for the CETA trade agreement between the EU and Canada, the president of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, said: 

"The S&D Group calls on all parties involved to find a swift shared solution in order to sign the trade agreement between the EU and Canada as soon as possible. Some of Wallonia's concerns are worthy of support and do need answers. Therefore, we believe there is still the room for a final compromise.

"Having said that, it is obvious that if a small community is able to hold 500 million EU citizens hostage - whether one agrees with the specific reasons or not - there is a clear problem with the decision-making process and the implementing system in Europe. This low capacity for policy-making in the EU unfortunately applies to every sector and it paralyses the whole European Union. Either the fundamental functioning is changed or the EU risks being sentenced to irrelevance."