EU ministers took steps Friday to approve a contentious free trade deal with Canada, while France and Austria demanded that talks towards a similar agreement with the United States should stop.

    Both deals have triggered demonstrations by unions and protest groups who say they will spark a “race to the bottom” in labor, environmental and public health standards and allow big business to challenge governments across Europe.

    After a first session devoted to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) struck with Canada two years ago but still awaiting approval, ministers agreed the two sides would produce a binding declaration that spelt out the limits of the pact to dispel public concerns.

    The ministers are expected to convene an extraordinary meeting Oct. 18, allowing the deal to be signed during the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Brussels on Oct. 27. It could provisionally enter force early next year.

    “There was a great willingness to sign the agreement in October,” Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economy minister and vice-chancellor, told reporters.

    However, lingering doubts remain elsewhere, notably in Austria, where Chancellor Christian Kern’s Social Democrats have grave concern, and Belgium, where not all regions back the deal.

    Reinhold Mitterlehner, Austria’s Christian Democrat vice chancellor, said a declaration making clear that standards were not under threat and that a special court would not allow big business to dictate public policy would help.

    By contrast, Mitterlehner and his French counterpart argued that the EU-U.S. Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks, which have been going on for the past three-and-a-half years, should be halted.

    The Austrian told reporters they should be relaunched after the U.S. presidential elections .

    (SD-Agencies)