The European Union has made adjustments to its landmark Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and moved one step closer to sealing the deal, while protectionism and inward policy prevails across the Atlantic in the US.

CETA, which was approved by members of the European parliament (MEPs) within the International Trade Committee (ITC) by 25 votes to 15, is now due to face a full house vote in February. If the European parliament approves the deal, it could apply provisionally from as early as April 2017.

“Full ratification will take some time longer. I don’t get the sense that the commission wants to rush that just yet but they do want to demonstrate that they are making progress on trade policy at a time when the Trump administration is being very protectionist,” says chief economist at Global Counsel, Gregor Irwin to GTR.

CETA will remove over 99% of tariffs on trade between the EU and Canada and is expected to boost trade between the two by €12bn a year as well as generating growth and new jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Opposition to the deal, and similar ones like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), has been growing among public and professional bodies, who argue that these deals will hinder standards on products and markets as well as on climate and environmental policies adopted in the EU.

Having negotiated the deal behind closed doors for the better part of seven years, policymakers are heeding to the issues raised, and keen to address them to allow the deal to push ahead.

According to a statement from the European Parliament (EP) the EU secured protection for over 140 European indications for food and drinks sold on the Canadian market, and sustainable development provisions were included to maintain environmental and social standards and ensure that trade and investment enhance both.

Another major sticking point to the deal has been the inclusion of the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which will allow companies to sue countries over any new law or policy that they consider to be discriminatory towards their investments. The EP states that within health, safety and the environment, the two sides have made a joint declaration that preserves the domestic right to regulate. Further the ISDS mechanism will be replaced by the Investment Court System, which the EP says will aim to ensure government control over the choice of arbitrators and enhance transparency.

As CETA was declared a mixed agreement by the European Commission in July last year, it will also need to be ratified by national and regional parliaments following ratification by the EP.

“The EC Commission is going to be going out to national capitals to make the case for CETA. They won’t want national parliaments to rush the process. They may judge that it’s better for parliament to see how the provisional application of CETA works to show the benefits and overcome opposition,” says Irwin.