Making further progress in the strategic partnership at 2023 EU – Canada Summit
On 23 and 24 November, the European Union and Canada held their 19th bilateral Summit. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Council Charles Michel joined Prime Minister Trudeau in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to advance the strategic partnership and discuss ways to address pressing global issues. The leaders agreed to a joint summit statement, with new joint initiatives and actions.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: "We had a very good Summit. It confirmed the strong alignment of the EU and Canada in values and worldviews, which holds an even greater significance in a world rocked by multiple crises. It also reflected our strong bilateral cooperation, with concrete results achieved in the fields of innovation, trade, climate and digital."
The EU and Canada have a long-standing commitment to working together on promoting global peace and security and upholding the international rules-based order.
The leaders discussed the current situation in the Middle East. Nothing can justify Hamas' despicable terror attack on Israel of 7 October, and the spiral of violence and suffering of civilians it triggered. Leaders called for all hostages held by Hamas to be released and discussed the need for additional humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, the shared commitment to prevent violence from spreading in the region and to chart a way forward, towards peaceful coexistence built on the two-state solution.
The Summit was also the occasion to reiterate that the EU and Canada remain resolute in their support for Ukraine in response to Russia's illegal war of aggression, for as long as it takes.
Another important deliverable for the Summit was the reinforcement of EU-Canada cooperation on research and innovation with the conclusion of negotiations on associating Canada to Horizon Europe, the EU's key funding programme for research and innovation. Once signed, it will enable researchers in Canada to collaborate in calls under Pillar II on equal terms with entities from the EU Member States.
The EU and Canada are leading by example in the global effort to fight the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. At the Summit, they established an EU-Canada Green Alliance to deepen cooperation in areas including climate action, the clean energy transition, environment and ocean protection, the green industrial transformation, sustainable agriculture, sustainable and zero-emission mobility, and research and innovation. Green Alliances are the most comprehensive form of bilateral engagement under the European Green Deal.
The EU is becoming a Partner of the Global Carbon Pricing Challenge launched by Prime Minister Trudeau at COP26, which seeks to increase the explicit carbon pricing coverage of global emissions to 60% by 2030. Energy policy, including hydrogen, tackling methane emissions and securing raw materials was also part of the discussions. A joint European Commission-Canada Hydrogen Action Plan was launched to develop the hydrogen market and transatlantic trade between Canada and the EU.
In the digital area, the EU and Canada launched an EU – Canada Digital Partnership, which reflects a shared vision for a digital economy and society at the service of people, in a context of accelerating digital transformation and geopolitical uncertainty. The EU and Canada have a long-standing dialogue on digital matters. Now they have agreed to work together in crucial areas such as artificial intelligence, secure international connectivity, cyber security, online platforms, digital identity and digital skills.
Acknowledging that trade, investment and policy reform are the key drivers of sustainable development and a green economy, the leaders highlighted the vital role that the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) plays in this regard. Over the last 6 years, trade in goods increased by 66%, reaching €77 billion in 2022, while trade in services increased by 46%.
The leaders emphasized the importance of further developing the EU-Canada strategic partnership on raw materials, which is essential for achieving the transition to climate-neutral and digitalised economies and enhancing economic security.
The leaders welcomed the successful finalisation of the negotiations of the new EU-Canada Passenger Name Record (PNR) Agreement, as an important step to combat terrorism and other serious transnational crimes, while ensuring privacy protection with respect to personal data collection. They look forward to the Agreement's swift ratification.
In the field of Security and Defence Policy, the leaders welcomed Canada's upcoming participation in the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Project on network of logistics hubs. They further discussed ways to strengthen their cooperation in this area, including by enhancing security and defence dialogue and identifying opportunities for joint naval activities and strengthened collaboration on cyber security and on the climate – security nexus.
The EU and Canada are also stepping up their work on disaster response globally. Leaders welcomed the signature of the administrative arrangement on disaster response and emergency management in third countries, to enhance the EU's and Canada's joint impact abroad. In addition, the European Commission announced earlier this year it will finance the purchase of 12 new Canadian built planes (Canadair) to increase the aerial firefighting capacity of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism strategic reserve (‘rescEU'); EU Member States have ordered a further 12 planes.
President von der Leyen's press remarks at the joint press conference following the Summit will be available here shortly. For more information on the outcomes of the Summit, read the joint statement.
For More Information
Factsheet on EU-Canada relations
Press release on the new EU-Canada Digital Partnership
Press release on the EU-Canada Green Alliance
Press release on Canada's association to Horizon Europe
Website of the EU Delegation to Canada
