Summary: June 17, 2005: EU-Canada Summit to reaffirm commitment to fighting climate change and strengthening the United Nations (Brussels)
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On 19 June 2005 the EU and Canada will hold a Summit meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada. The European Commission will be represented by President, José Manuel Barroso, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson. The Luxembourg Prime Minister and EU President in office, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, as well as
Secretary General of the Council and EU High Representative for Common Foreign Security Policy, Javier Solana, will participate. At the Summit leaders will discuss bilateral relations, the reform of the United Nations, in view of the forthcoming UN Summit, and climate change.
"Canada is one of the EU's closest partners. We cooperate successfully on major political and economic issues such as how to address climate change and the reform of the United Nations. As partners we have made good progress in implementing our Partnership Agenda by launching the negotiations for a Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement and by finishing negotiations for an Agreement on air passenger data transfer," President Barroso commented before heading for Niagara.
The Summit will highlight areas of effective EU-Canada co-operation, such as the Canadian participation in the European and Security Defence Policy (ESDP) Mission in Bosnia and its participation in the EU Election Observer Missions to the West Bank and Gaza as well as in Lebanon.
Regarding economic relations, the leaders are expected to welcome the launch of the TIEA negotiations and to re-affirm their commitment to accelerate the pace of negotiations to ensure a successful Doha Development Round at the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial in December this year.
Since the EU and Canada signed a Partnership Agreement last year both sides have made good progress in making air travel more secure while preserving passengers' privacy and the fluidity of passenger traffic, and in addressing global issues such as climate change. This year's Summit will emphasise the determination of both sides to implement their Kyoto Protocol obligations and to intensify discussion on the post-2012 international framework for combating climate change. The Summit is expected
to confirm support for initiatives such as the UN Peacebuilding Commission, which will be discussed at the UN Summit in September this year.
The Summit will be preceded by a Foreign Ministers and a Trade Ministers meeting. The Foreign Ministers will address crisis management co-operation, the Middle East (including the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) and Iran), Afghanistan, support for the African Union (including Sudan), and the situation in Haiti.
The Trade Ministers will focus on the recently launched negotiations of a Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement (TIEA) and on bilateral and multilateral trade issues, such as various aspects of the Doha Development Round.
For more information:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/canada/intro/index.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/issues/bilateral/countries/canada/index_en.htm
Statistics can be found at:
http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/doclib/html/113363.htm
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