EU turns to Canada as Parliament calls for deeper security and trade ties

Brussels – “Canada is probably the most European country outside Europe.” German MEP Tobias Cremer (S&D) used these words to summarise the reasons why the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) today (25 February) adopted, with 41 votes in favour, 13 against, and five abstentions,  a recommendation calling for “deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions.” The document aims to “elevate the EU-Canada strategic partnership to a new level in pursuit of shared interests and values,” said Cremer, who is the rapporteur for the recommendation. 

The “roadmap”, as the German politician called it, focuses on three main points. The first is that of common security threats, already at the centre of the 20th EU-Canada summit on 23 June and the subsequent meeting between Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas in Niagara on 12 November. The committee calls for “rapid implementation” of the results achieved during the diplomatic meetings, “to deliver concrete progress under the joint statement and the security and defence partnership.” After all, the list of common security threats to the EU and Canada drawn up by the committee is particularly long: “Russia’s war against Ukraine, hybrid attacks, terrorism, foreign interference, China’s assertiveness and economic coercion, climate change, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and instability in the Middle East.” In particular, “the EU and Canada should reinforce support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, notably through the G7 and the Coalition of the Willing , coordinate sanctions and diplomatic efforts to further isolate Russia, and jointly foster relations with the United States.” 

The second objective of the roadmap proposed by the Foreign Affairs Committee is to defend multilateralism. This is a joint effort that Ottawa and Brussels must undertake, especially regarding “key institutions including the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the World Trade Organisation, NATO, and the G7 and G20 forums.” The importance of cooperation is highlighted, particularly in the Arctic region, where the document expresses “concern over the region’s militarisation” and calls for “joint efforts to safeguard Greenland’s autonomy amid rising geopolitical interest.”

The last of the three key points in the text approved today concerns promoting EU-Canada trade relations. In this regard, the reference framework is that outlined in the CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), the free trade agreement signed by Brussels and Ottawa in October 2016, which entered into force in September 2017. The recommendation stresses “the need to promote the benefits of CETA, urges the remaining member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Slovenia, ed) to ratify CETA ahead of the 2027 anniversary of its provisional application.”

The document approved today by AFET is only the latest in a series of recent moves by Brussels to strengthen its ties with Ottawa: from the summits already mentioned, through the opening of the European SAFE defence programme to Canada, decided by the EU Council on 11 February, to the invitation to Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to attend a meeting with EU Finance Ministers during the last Eurogroup session on Monday, 16 February.

 The reason for the close alignment between Ottawa and Brussels is easy to explain: faced with the “increasingly erratic rhetoric from Washington,” as Cremer described the line taken by US President Donald Trump towards the Old Continent,  the EU is looking for an overseas partner that can guarantee the stability and reliability that the US seems to have lost. Judging by these latest moves, Brussels seems to have set its sights just north of the US.