EU, Ottawa commit to enhanced co-operation

The EU and Canada have affirmed their commitment to “strengthen and deepen our strategic partnership” following a conference in Ottawa.

Meeting in the Canadian capital in the province of Ontario, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed their commitment “to contributing to our mutual prosperity through our continued co-operation”. They discussed how to further develop the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA).

In a statement following the summit, the three leaders said: “Today, we celebrate the successful end of negotiations for the SPA between Canada and the EU, which offers an important co-operation framework to strengthen our relations and deepen our foreign policy co-operation, and provides a platform for joint action on global issues. The SPA will contribute to stronger ties in areas such as energy, research and innovation, science and technology, and the Arctic. The agreement also seeks to enrich our dialogue on issues that directly affect the wellbeing of our peoples, such as the environment, migration, consular protection, people-to-people links and the special needs of youth.”

The leaders announced stronger ties in co-operation in the Arctic and Arctic Council, where the EU and Canada already closely co-operate. “We wish to reinforce our collaboration under the existing Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Canada and the European Community through active participation in the Horizon 2020 framework programme, including in priority areas of Arctic and marine research, in follow-up to the 2013 Galway Statement,” the statement said.

Negotiations also saw the conclusion of the Canada-EU trade agreement as well as an agreement to foster global peace and security.