Brussels, 03/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission approved the configuration of the future EU/Canada Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement (TIEA). The model of this new type of agreement, which lays down the scope and the main objectives, must now be discussed with the Canadian government and formally adopted by the EU and Canadian leaders at the EU/Canada Summit of 18 March. Pascal Lamy, European Commissioner for Trade, commented on the adoption of the agreement model by saying: "As a result of the progressive reduction of tariff barriers, XXI century trade requires us to look at trade obstacles beyond the border". Mr Lamy continued: "we need to be inventive to find solutions which address the new challenges of a trade and investment relationship between two developed economies and help our respective business communities to reap the full potential from their efforts".
The future Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement (TIEA) between the EU and Canada will address the removal and prevention of obstacles to trade and investment flows. One of the key elements will be co-operation between European and Canadian regulators, to be based on the framework being prepared by the European Commission and the Canadian government. The TIEA will cover the following areas: -mutual recognition of professional qualifications; -e-commerce; -financial services; -public procurement; -trade facilitation (simplified customs procedures, electronic data exchange, etc); -investment facilitation; -competition; -sustainable development (transfer of environment friendly technologies, corporate social responsibility, social dimension of sustainable development, sustainability etc); -intellectual property rights; -science and technology co-operation; -measures to facilitate trade and investment between EU and Canadian SMEs.
Apart from the model for the future TIEA agreement, the EU/Canada Summit of 18 March will adopt a joint report on overall relations. The Commission and Ottawa have set themselves the objective of launching negotiations on the agreement this year, once their respective internal procedures will permit it. It is worth noting that at their Summit of 19 December 2002, the EU and Canada agreed to strengthen their relations in the fields of trade and investment. The Summit planned for December 2003 was cancelled by the Italian Presidency (see EUROPE of 22 November 2003, p.4).