Stéphane Dion, Chrystia Freeland and Dan Costello – Picture by EU.
Monday, 4 December 2017, Brussels: The first meeting of the EU-Canada joint ministerial committee took place in Brussels.
EU-Canada bilateral relationship
The committee agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the EU and Canada. The cooperation has entered a new era with the provisional application of the strategic partnership agreement (SPA) since 1 April 2017 and of the comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) since 21 September 2017.
The committee discussed in particular how to step up security and defence cooperation in areas such as crisis management and security, cyber security and responding to hybrid threats.
The EU and Canada also committed to working together on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The Committee agreed that the EU and Canada shall co-chair a Women Foreign Ministers meeting in 2018.
The committee also reviewed how to strengthen EU-Canada cooperation in third countries in regions such as Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Foreign policy coordination
A number of key issues on the international agenda were also discussed, including the situation in eastern Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Myanmar/Burma.
Global issues
The EU and Canada discussed global issues, including climate change, human rights and democracy, as well as migration and counter-terrorism.
The Committee was chaired on the Canadian side by the latter’s country Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland accompanied by Canadian Special Envoy to the EU, Stéphane Dion (Ambassador of Canada to Germany) as well as the Head of Mission of Canada to the EU, Dan Costello. From the EU side, Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
For further information:
Joint statement EU-Canada ministerial committee: http://www.
