The European Commission proposed on Tuesday that a planned trade deal with Canada be signed and provisionally applied, while also announcing that it would be submitting the pact for approval from all EU national parliaments, as well as the European Parliament and Council. “Let me stress that this is a good agreement. The EU needs it, the EU wants it,” said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström at a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Strasbourg, France. Outlining the series of benefits that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) would bring, she stressed that the responsibility would now be on EU member states to promote it within their own constituencies. “CETA will make trade between the EU and Canada easier. More trade means more growth, and more growth means more jobs,” said Malmström, adding that the planned deal is modern in its approach to areas ranging from services to public procurement to investment protection. Provisional implementation The news marked a change in stance by the EU’s executive arm, which previously said that the deal would not need to go to national parliaments, citing the Treaty of Lisbon . (See Bridges Weekly, 14 April 2016 and 19 May 2016 ) Specifically, if...