Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-20-Speech-2-255"
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"en.20100420.11.2-255"2
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"Mr President, Canada is one of the oldest and most like-minded partners of the European Union. We work together on a wide range of issues – both bilaterally and, of course, around the world.
We will also have a chance to discuss our crisis management cooperation which, I am pleased to say, is expanding rapidly. We have several crisis management operations ongoing, notably our police mission in Afghanistan, where our cooperation with Canada is exemplary.
Haiti will also be on the agenda of the summit for obvious reasons. Canada plays a very important role in Haiti, and one of the areas where we can and should strengthen our joint efforts is in linking crisis management to longer-term development. This was also the point I stressed during the New York conference on Haiti on 31 March which was co-chaired by both the EU and Canada, along with France, Spain and Brazil.
Along with my fellow Commissioners for Development, Andris Piebalgs, and for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, I was pleased to announce at New York that the EU will contribute over EUR 1.2 billion to Haiti’s reconstruction and development.
The EU and Canada both have a long-term commitment to assist Haiti on the path to reconstruction; to rebuild for a better future.
The summit will cover climate change. Taking into account the post-Copenhagen context, adaptation to and mitigation of climate change will continue to top the agenda and will require supportive energy policies. There is wide support for the idea that EU-Canada cooperation should focus on financing mechanisms as well as on support to third countries’ clean development.
The consequence of climate change for the Arctic will be another important element of our discussions at the summit. Nowhere are the effects of climate change more keenly felt than in the Arctic region. Environmental changes have a growing impact on the Arctic’s people, biodiversity and landscape – both on land and at sea. Protecting the region, including its population, is a key objective of the EU’s evolving Arctic Policy, as honourable Members may recall from my presentation during the March Plenary session. With more than 40% of its land mass in the North, Canada shares our interest in protecting the Arctic environment and ensuring the sustainable economic and social development of the region.
Finally, when we talk about upgrading and modernising the EU-Canada relationship, we have the 1976 European Community-Canada framework agreement. This is still in force but outdated. EU-Canada cooperation has extended to other fields such as foreign and security policy and closer cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs.
So we need a modernised framework agreement to act as an umbrella for all our sectoral agreements, including the comprehensive economic and trade agreement and we are holding exploratory talks with Canada to upgrade that agreement at the present time.
In a world of big challenges and where change is constant, we need partners. Canada is among the most important the European Union has. We aim for a productive summit with clear results.
Our relationship is anchored in a shared history that goes back a long way and by common values that are deeply held. It is on that basis that we cooperate to protect our common interests. We do so of course for the benefit of citizens in Europe and in Canada, but also to promote security and prosperity worldwide.
So it is an important relationship. We need to nurture and invest in it, so that we realise its full potential. That is the purpose of the next EU-Canada Summit which will take place in Brussels on 5 May.
The timing is fortunate. Because it means that, as Canada is chairing the G8 and G20 summit at the end of June, our EU-Canada Summit allows us to take stock and align our strategies on global themes that will figure on the G8 and G20 summits, for example, how to promote a sustainable economic recovery, cooperation on financial market reform and regulation, climate change and combating nuclear proliferation.
I attended the G8 foreign ministers meeting recently in Canada where, indeed, many of these issues were discussed.
We will also have the chance to discuss EU-Canada bilateral relations and how we work together on regional crises. Our aim is to have a focused, business-like summit.
With our bilateral relations, the summit will deal with efforts to upgrade and modernise the EU-Canada relationship. It will offer us an excellent opportunity to provide support at the highest political level to reach an ambitious comprehensive economic and trade agreement as soon as possible.
We will take stock of the progress made during the first three rounds of negotiations but also give new impetus to these negotiations, bearing in mind its importance to expand trade and job creation. On trade more generally, the summit should send a clear signal that the EU and Canada reject protectionism, recalling our commitment to reaching an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced conclusion of the Doha Development Round.
The summit should also address the subject of reciprocal visa-free travel. Our goal is clear: we want visa-free travel to Canada for all EU citizens as soon as possible."@en1
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