EU-Canada Summit focuses on developing new trade agreement, May 2003

The first EU-Canada summit of 2003 took place in Athens on 28-29 May 2003 with talks on new trade agreements dominating the meeting although the conflict in Iraq and the Middle East peace process also featured on the agenda.

Top officials from the European Union and Canada meet on a biannual basis, near the end of each rotating Presidency, to discuss issues of common concern such as human rights, nuclear non-proliferation, the Middle East and trade, In addition, consultations on commerce, investment, higher education and training are held each year.

At the last summit in Ottawa in December 2002 Canadian officials expressed their wish to negotiate a free trade agreement with the European Union. After the United States, the EU is consistently the second most important destination for Canadian exports which, leaving aside exports to the United States, accounted for an average of 35% of Canada's total exports from 1999 to 2002. In addition, 10.7% of Canada's total imports came from the EU. However, European officials strongly rejected the proposal with European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy, saying that 'it would be the wrong cure for the ailment'. Instead, the two parties agreed to design a 'new type of forward-looking, wide-ranging bilateral trade and investment enhancement agreement which would have much more to offer than a classic free-trade agreement'.

Following up on this agreement in Ottawa in December 2002, the European Commission adopted a Communication on 13 May 2003 which outlined the European Commission's vision for strengthening ties between the EU and Canada. The Communication focuses on the reinforcement of EU-Canada co-operation on international issues, notably under the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as outlining the European Commission's preliminary thinking on the potential contents and scope of a bilateral trade and investment agreement. The document also addresses collaboration on justice and home affairs matters and on environmental questions, and increased educational and cultural links between Europeans and Canadians.

EU and Canadian officials discussed the Communication at the summit on 28-29 May 2003 as well as a progress report on efforts to develop a new bilateral Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement (TIEA). The design of such an agreement is scheduled to be finalised by the next ministerial meeting in Ottawa in December 2003 with Canada-EU negotiations on the proposed agreement expected to begin in 2004. These should conclude once the results of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations are known. Meanwhile the Canadian government has launched a public consultation on the scope of the proposed bilateral trade and investment enhancement agreement as well as on barriers to the European market to be addressed in the context of ongoing WTO negotiations.

Aside from trade talks, discussions between EU and Canadian officials also focussed on the current global environment. In a joint communiqué issued on 28 May 2003, the two parties expressed their support for the relevant United Nation Security Council Resolutions on the reconstruction of Iraq and called on all parties involved in the Middle East Peace Process to fully implement the Quartet's roadmap. They also agreed to co-operate more closely in the fight against terrorism and against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Links:
Council of the European Union:
	28.05.03:	EU-Canada Summit: Joint Communiqué [PRES/03/153]
European Commission:
	DG Trade: Bilateral trade relations with Canada
	DG External Relations: The EU's relations with Canada
	13.05.03:	Press Release: Commission charts course for closer EU-Canada relations [IP/03/674]
	Communication on EU-Canada relations [COM(2003)266]
Canadian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade:
	Canada-EU Relations
	15.04.03:	Pettigrew initiates consultations on future of Canada-European Union trade and investment relations

Helen Bower

Compiled: Friday, 30 May 2003

The prospect of a new bilateral Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement dominated the agenda of the EU-Canada Summit held in Athens on 28-29 May 2003.