Meeting by videoconference on Thursday 29 October, the leaders of the EU and Canada agreed to further strengthen their cooperation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is again gaining ground around the world.
“We agreed today to strengthen our cooperation in research, access, supply and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines”, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a press conference.
According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, cooperation with Canada on this subject has been “excellent” from the outset, both bilaterally and multilaterally. In particular, she recalled the country's participation in the ACT-Accelerator (see EUROPE 12474/7) and the COVAX Facility (see EUROPE 12563/10) for equitable access worldwide to vaccines against Covid-19.
On the trade front, Europeans and Canadians also provided an update on the provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which has just celebrated its third anniversary.
The bilateral trade in goods and services between the EU and Canada has increased by more than 20% by the end of 2019 compared to levels prior to the introduction of CETA, recalled the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
According to the joint communiqué, both parties agreed to take concrete steps to promote its implementation in the sectors of trade and gender equality, trade and climate change as well as trade and small and medium-sized enterprises.
On the European side, Mr Michel said he hoped for rapid ratification by all Member States. Ms von der Leyen, for her part, indicated that the EU was taking the measures necessary to fully implement the Protocol on Conformity Assessment.
Discussions also focused on foreign and security policy issues concerning Belarus, Russia, Nagorno-Karabakh, the Eastern Mediterranean, China, the Sahel and Venezuela. With regard to China, the two sides expressed, inter alia, serious concern about the continued arbitrary detention of Canadian, European and other nationals.
On the environment, the leaders of the EU and Canada reiterated the urgency of intensifying global action on climate change. Furthermore, they reiterated their commitment to the “rapid, full and effective” implementation of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of their common goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
On the other hand, EU-Canada cooperation has entered a new phase on digital technology and particularly on artificial intelligence, said Ms von der Leyen. Both sides also agreed to cooperate more closely in protecting their democracy against malicious cyber-activities and disinformation.
Finally, according to the communiqué, the leaders also reiterated their commitment to finding a global, consensus-based solution for a “fair, sustainable and modern international tax system that addresses the fiscal challenges of a digital economy”.
See the joint communiqué: https://bit.ly/2Jm5JRj (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)