Brussels 16 May (ANA) - An EU-Singapore free trade deal cannot take effect fully unless parliaments in all 28 member states approve it, the EU's top court has decided. The legal opinion at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could delay progress towards a UK free trade deal with the EU during the Brexit negotiations. The European Commission negotiates trade deals on behalf of the EU. But the ECJ says the EU-Singapore deal, concluded in 2014, has parts that affect powers enjoyed by member states. Indirect investments and trade arbitration are issues that need national approval, the ruling said. The verdict makes it more likely that any UK-EU free trade deal will have to be ratified by national and regional parliaments in the EU. The Singapore deal is not as wide-ranging as the EU-Canada trade deal (Ceta), which was nearly scuppered by objections in Wallonia, the mainly French-speaking part of Belgium. Ceta will take effect provisionally in the coming weeks, but full implementation still requires the approval of 38 parliaments in the EU - national and regional. The UK has to negotiate the terms of its exit from the EU by the end of March 2019. But the UK government also wants to make speedy progress towards a new trade deal with the EU. The Commission says the terms of UK withdrawal - including thorny budget issues - must be agreed before any trade negotiations with the UK.(ANA)

FA/ANA/16 May 2017-----