Co-operation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs

Justice and security issues play an important part in EU-Canada relations, notably the fight against terrorism and organised crime. Engagement between the EU and Canada on such issues has become closer through meetings between the European Commission’s DG Justice and DG Home Affairs and International Trade Canada with Public Safety Canada and Justice Canada. There is particular interest in further developing discussions in the area of information sharing. This is a key aspect of formal agreements between Canada and the EU (such as API/PNR ). An important issue is privacy and the protection of personal information. Police cooperation between the EU and Canada continues to be achieved pursuant to the Canada-Europol Agreement of November 2005.

In May 2007, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the European Commission’s DG for Justice, Freedom and Security signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a new framework for cooperation on a range of immigration and asylum issues. The first meeting under the MoU was held in Brussels in July 2007. Intensive discussions have also continued on the issue of extending Canada’s system of visa exemption for short stays to citizens of all EU Member States.

Environmental issues

Canada and the European Union have been holding high-level meetings on environment since 1983. These meetings discuss topical environment issues of a bilateral or multilateral nature, as well as providing an opportunity to exchange views on respective approaches and identify possible areas for future cooperation. The commitment made at the 2007 EU-Canada Summit to strengthen the EU-Canada High-Level Dialogue on Environment was confirmed at the subsequent Summits. Key areas identified at the 2010 Summit were: adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, supportive energy policies and cooperation focusing on support to clean development in third countries.

Energy

Energy relations go back to 1959, when the Euratom-Canada Agreement for Cooperation in the peaceful uses of Atomic Energy was concluded. At the 2009  EU-Canada Summit in Prague, the EU and Canada agreed to continue cooperation in the context of a High-Level Dialogue on Energy first established in 2007, particularly in areas of increased energy efficiency, renewable energy, improved market transparency and stability, and implementation of cleaner energy technology.

Transport

The EU-Canada Air Transport Agreement was endorsed at the EU-Canada Summit in May 2009 and signed on 17-18 December 2009. This agreement will significantly improve both the connections between the respective markets and people-to-people links, and will create new opportunities in the airline sector through a gradual liberalisation of foreign ownership rules. The EU-Canada Agreement on Civil Aviation Safety, signed in 2009, provides for the mutual recognition of certification findings and approvals in the areas of airworthiness of civil aeronautical products, services and manufacturing and maintenance organisations.

Customs Co-operation

High level discussions continue on a regular basis between the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) concerning closer co-operation in supply chain security, most notably marine container security. The discussions have centred upon building closer co-operation in securing marine traffic based on mutual recognition of controls and security standards and of trade partnership programmes.

Science and Technology cooperation

Science and technology as well as innovation are critically important to the economic prosperity of both, the EU and Canada. An Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Canada and the European Community has been in place since 1996. In addition to co-operation between the EU and Canada, there are a multitude of existing bilateral agreements between Canada and EU Member States on science and technology, involving governmental institutions, university research centres, private foundations or the private sector. Regular cooperation meetings also take place between the European Commission and Canadian officials in such frameworks as the Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee.

Canada ranks in the top 10 among non-EU countries involved in the selected proposals in the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013). There are 187 with the active involvement of about 41 Canadian partners and several hundred EU researchers. At the 2009 Summit, the EU and Canada agreed to develop specific initiatives in priority areas such as energy and environment research, and to strive to establish a matching funding mechanism for participants in the 7th Framework Programme.

Education

Educational activities are important not only for strengthening the links between young people in Europe and in Canada but also for enhancing the EU-Canada economic relationship. The first Agreement on Higher Education and Training signed in 1996 was renewed once in 2000, and again in December 2006, establishing a Framework for Cooperation in Higher Education, Training and Youth . This new agreement now includes a youth component and covers the period of 2006-2013. Calls for Proposals for the Transatlantic Exchange Partnerships are published every year; but due to severe Canadian budget cuts, no calls will be published for the years 2012 and 2013. Unfortunately, the EU cannot fund projects without matching funds from Canada. Since 1996, some 550 European and Canadian institutions have participated in over 70 joint projects, and more than 4,000 students have spent a period of transatlantic study in Europe or Canada.

The European Commission has since 2006 also supported five EU Centres of Excellence at the Canadian universities of Carleton, Dalhousie, Toronto, York and Montréal–McGill. The Centres help to increase awareness about the political, economic and cultural importance of the EU-Canada relationship, through research, teaching, and public events such as conferences and workshops ( List of EU Centres [59 KB] ).

Fisheries Issues

Both the EU and Canada are committed to the conservation of fish stocks. Fish stocks in the North Atlantic are in imminent danger of extinction. Both fishing communities have links going back centuries, and on both sides of the Atlantic, they have suffered considerable hardship as a result of the depletion of their traditional fishing grounds in the North Atlantic. The EU and Canada are committed to saving species such as cod, halibut and plaice from extinction, and rebuilding stocks so that sustainable fishing activities can be resumed. The EU and Canada work together in the North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) to ensure the survival and long-term health of this vital natural resource. It is also a shared goal of the EU and Canada to improve the effectiveness of other Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to which both partners belong.

Northern Dimension

The 1999 Joint Summit Statement on Northern Cooperation [18 KB] provides the framework for cooperation between the EU and Canada in the North. The EU’s and Canada’s Northern dimension policies recognise each other as key partners in the region and in this context the EU and Canada pursue coordinated actions in particular in the field of: environment through the EU Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership; health through the EU Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being and education through the University of the Arctic.

At the 2009 EU-Canada Summit, the EU and Canada agreed to maintain a bilateral dialogue and cooperate on Arctic issues with a focus on research and the concerns and interests of Arctic people and communities.