Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plans to travel to Europe to sign off on CETA Thursday have been called off, as the European Union negotiates to salvage the troubled Canada-EU trade deal.

A court ruling early next year may help the European Union out of the kind of embarrassing situation it's currently in, where a regional assembly in Belgium is blocking CETA, a major trade agreement between Canada and the EU.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken to Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, in an attempt to salvage Canada's free trade deal with Europe.