Brussels, 24/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - At the beginning of the evening of 24 November the EU/Canada Summit was held by videoconference, bringing together Canadian Prime Minister Premier Paul Martin in British Columbia, the President of the European Council Tony Blair in London, and the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the High Representative Javier Solana in Brussels, all around their respective screens. The idea of holding the summit by videoconference - a first for such a high-level meeting - came from Prime Minister Martin, who preferred to remain in Canada because of internal political uncertainty (a motion of censure against the government is due to be tabled on Thursday with a vote planned for Monday). The Summit was due to close with the adoption of a joint declaration (to which EUROPE will return).
On the Canadian side there was emphasis on Thursday of the importance of the Summit, which comes after the recent conclusion of three agreements which are important for bilateral relations with the EU: - the signature on 24 November of the agreement on Canada's participation in the EU's operations in the area of crisis management (see other news); - the signature on 21 November in the Hague of an agreement on exchange of information between Canada and Europol; - the agreement concluded at the beginning of October on exchange of airline passenger data. These three agreements form a “very important package” for cooperation in the area of international security and the fight against terrorism - an area which will top the agenda at the Summit on Thursday.
The other main subjects of the Summit were: - the negotiations in the WTO on the Doha Development Agenda. Canada reiterated that it is disappointed by the European agricultural offer, for two main reasons: - the insufficient reduction of internal aid to farmers; - the excessive number of sensitive products protected by very high tariffs. In Canada's view, the current US offer is more ambitious than the European one. An improved European offer in the agricultural area could lead to improved offers from developing countries and others in the areas which Europe holds dear, such as services and industrial products, the Canadians explained; - climate change. Just a few days away from the important conference in Montréal (28 November -9 December), the EU and Canada discussed the prospects of achieving an ambitious result at this conference. Canada is in favour of launching a process which could lead to the negotiation of an international agreement for the post-Kyoto period (2012), with the objective of “getting the USA on board”. The most important thing is to get the process started, even if the exact shape of the negotiations is not identified in advance, the Canadians argue; - economic and trade relations. The two sides in particular focused on the ongoing negotiations (since May 2005) with a view to concluding an agreement on the promotion of trade exchanges and investment (Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement, TIEA), directed along the following lines: the facilitation of trade exchanges and investment, competition, financial services, public procurement, science and technology, mutual recognition of professional qualifications; - UN reform; - Africa. Canada welcomes the strategy for Africa which the EU is in the process of drawing up and on which progress has been made this week in the General Affairs Council (see EUROPE 9073); - issues of international politics, notably the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Congo, Darfur, Haiti.