European officials resumed efforts to break the lock that the Belgian region of Wallonia has on their trade policy. The European Commission amended a joint declaration meant to overcome objections by a regional Belgian authority that has derailed a new EU-Canada trade agreement, according to two people with knowledge of the draft offer. The commission, the executive arm of the European Union, will meet for a new round of talks on Monday with the Belgian government and authorities of the French-speaking Walloon region of Belgium, which is the lone holdout in approving the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Any changes to the agreement will have to be approved by all 28 member states in the EU. “The commission has been working without let-up in order to steer the discussion toward a positive outcome,” European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels, adding that there would be no deadline on the negotiations. “At the moment we need to arm ourselves with patience.” Populist Threat European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and EU President Donald Tusk later on Monday, according to Schinas. Wallonia, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the EU’s population, blocked progress of the deal, citing the need for more time to negotiate. The stance is tying the hands of the Belgian federal government, which is in favor of the deal, but needs the endorsement of regional authorities. The other 27 out of 28 EU nations support the bloc’s first commercial accord with a fellow member of the Group of Seven industrialized countries. Slovakia, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU and sets the political agenda for the bloc, is ready to hold an extra meeting of ambassadors to pave the way for approval of the trade deal, the people said. The collapse of the agreement, known as CETA, would be another sign of headwinds facing free trade as politicians around the world fend off a populist threat that taps into voters’ fears that such deals destroy jobs. It could also damage the EU’s credibility as a global player at a time when it’s already struggling to deal with crises across its frontiers, from Brexit to Russia and Syria. Trudeau has said failure to ratify the pact would raise questions about the EU’s viability. The EU says the pact, which has been in the works for five years, would boost its economic output by about 12 billion euros ($13 billion) a year and expand EU-Canada trade by about a quarter. The deal’s failure would complicate separate negotiations with the U.S., Japan and other countries as a wave of populist parties around the world challenges the benefits of free trade. “Belgium is still involved in establishing what its position is in accordance with its own internal institutional procedures and in line with its constitutional order,” Schinas said. “The commission has the utmost respect for that process.”