EU lawmakers voted on Wednesday 15 February to approve the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a sweeping trade and investment accord with Canada. The trade deal passed the European Parliament by a sizeable majority, with 408 votes in favour, 254 against, and 33 abstentions. The trans-Atlantic deal was negotiated over a span of nearly six years and was later signed by leaders from both sides on 30 October 2016, following a heated debate over subjects such as the inclusion of a new investment court system, which was designed to replace the previous investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) that has become a common feature of many trade deals. (See Bridges Weekly, 3 November 2016 ) Ahead of the 751-member legislative body’s vote in Strasbourg, France, the trade deal first went through multiple parliamentary committees, earning the backing of its international trade committee (INTA) and its environment, public health, and food safety committee (ENVI). While it faced a negative result from the committee on employment and social affairs (EMPL), that vote was non-binding, as was that of the environment panel. (See Bridges Weekly, 26 January 2017 ) The two sides could begin implementing the accord on a provisional basis from as...