In a statement issued on Wednesday 12 November at the end of the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) in Niagara, EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, and Canadian Foreign Minister, Anita Anand, expressed the determination of the EU and Canada to “further strengthen their robust and enduring partnership”.
According to the joint statement, cooperation between the EU and Canada “remains a cornerstone of stability, resilience, and prosperity across the Atlantic at a time when (their) shared values are under pressure”.
In particular, the Joint Ministerial Council welcomed “the significant progress on the Summit outcomes” last June (see EUROPE 13665/6), in particular the efforts to create opportunities to increase defence industrial cooperation, to engage in closer collaboration in addressing transatlantic security challenges, including through increased NATO-EU cooperation, and the work to explore options for an administrative arrangement between Canada and the European Defence Agency. “Canada and the EU are taking steps to strengthen cooperation in maritime security, cyber, countering hybrid threats and strengthening preparedness”, the statement said.
The two parties also highlighted the continuation of work on the implementation of an agreement on digital trade, which will extend the preferential trade partnership, the desire to advance cooperation in digital matters and the organisation of the first meeting of the Digital Partnership Council.
The pursuit of cooperation in nuclear technologies through the negotiation of a “modernised and comprehensive” Canada-Euratom Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, as well as closer cooperation and exploration of options to work together to build “more resilient, diversified, reliable” energy supply chains are also mentioned.
The statement also underscores the desire to make progress on collaboration within the framework of the Economic Security Dialogue, the launch of the Industrial Policy Dialogue and supply chain cooperation in strategic sectors. It also advocates accelerating and expanding raw materials value chains, through the implementation of the Strategic Partnership on this subject.
Finally, the statement addresses the international situation, including Ukraine, Moldova, the Middle East, the Arctic, the Indo-Pacific region and Haiti.
See the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/je3 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)