Italy Picks Another Fight With EU, Targeting Canadian Trade Deal
- Agriculture minister says Canada agreement not good enough
- Effect of rejection likely to be more symbolic than practical
Matteo Salvini
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Italy is refusing to ratify a European Union free-trade accord with Canada, the bloc’s most ambitious commercial deal to date, as the populist government aims to upend decades of consensus in Brussels.
After less than two weeks in office, the hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has already sparked a diplomatic incident with France over immigration. Now his party colleague, Agriculture Minister Gian Marco Centinaio, is stirring up opposition to the signature achievement of EU trade policy.