A landmark free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada could be signed within days after the Belgian government overcame an impasse with its regional authorities on Thursday.

​Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said his national government had reached a deal with the holdout region of Wallonia. The region held a veto over the country's ability to back the trans-Atlantic trade agreement. And the EU, in turn, needed unanimity among all its members.

The deal will go through regional legislatures by Friday night.

This has been excerpted from the 27 October 2016 edition of CBC News and is available in its entirety at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/belgium-canada-eu-trade-deal-1.3823624