Prime Minister,
Dear Mark,
At our last summit, it was an honour to visit St. John's Newfoundland which has a special place in my heart as my husband landed there during the 9/11 attacks. It was a time where my husband and later on myself felt the warmth and hospitality of the people of Newfoundland first hand. Now dear Mark, I have seen the beauty of Alberta in Kananaskis. You have indeed a vast country Mark, and I am happy to see more of it. Same goes for you António, so we will be back and we are very curious to see where you will take us to; perhaps to the Arctic, which is so important to both of us, and where we have been so clear about the EU support to our Greenlandic partners.
Dear Mark,
You took the helm of the G7 presidency in challenging times, and you delivered. You brought countries together at a moment when unity is more vital than ever. You helped bring focus to pressing issues and encouraged frank exchange. And you said, at this moment, we have to turn the many challenges into change.
That is what we are doing today, as we meet here in Brussels. As the saying goes, "Hard times reveal true friends." In these challenging times, we are taking huge steps forward to deepen our strategic partnership. Let me start with defence. Canada and the European Union have been working closely on this for years, both bilaterally and in NATO. Canada has been leading NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia since 2014. You are making Europe's eastern flank stronger and safer. Today we are stepping up our cooperation. As you said, we signed a Security and Defence Partnership. It will strengthen Canada's role in Europe's rapidly evolving defence architecture, and this is just the beginning. We will now swiftly launch talks on Canada's access to our joint military procurement instrument, SAFE. It is EUR 150 billion. Together, we will define where our cooperation can have the most value added, and where we should channel joint investments. It will be good for our industries; it will be good for our people; and it will be good for transatlantic security, too. And of course it will be good for our continued support to Ukraine. Because the more we invest in the highly innovative Ukrainian industry, the more the industry will be capable, and the better Ukraine can defend itself.
Dear Mark,
Canada has shown incredible generosity to Ukraine, training almost 45,000 troops and welcoming refugees. Today, Ukraine needs our support more than ever. As you made it clear in Kananaskis last week, we are determined to explore further sanctions to maximise pressure on Russia to come to the negotiations table. So far, the EU and its Member States have mobilized almost EUR 150 billion. The friends of Ukraine, all of us, we must now plan for more support for 2026 and beyond. And of course, our focus is turned to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome in July. As a key member of our donor platform, Canada is contributing significant financial support to Ukraine, crucial assistance for reconstruction projects as well as invaluable technical assistance.
In Kananaskis, we also discussed the importance of open, stable and free trade among partners. It is a powerful foundation of our prosperity. CETA is our shared success story that illustrates this perfectly. . And indeed, António, you mentioned the 71% increase in trade since 2017. In numbers, in 2023 alone, total trade reached an impressive EUR 123 billion. Thanks to CETA, the EU's GDP grows by EUR 3.2 billion annually. While Canada sees a EUR 1.3 billion boost each year. CETA stands as strong symbol of the power of free and fair trade. I must say, 98% of our tariff lines are at zero. I repeat it: zero. We know that the ratification process is still ongoing, but we are committed to get this done.
That brings me to our economic security.
Critical raw materials are at the heart of this effort. Canada is uniquely positioned, with your unique resources. 90% of your mineral output is exported and the EU is proud to be the second-largest customer. We want to deepen our cooperation with Canada by reinforcing our Strategic Partnership on Raw materials. But our ambition goes far beyond that. That is why I am pleased we have agreed to launch the EU-Canada Industrial Policy Dialogue. That is a forum that will provide an opportunity for business leaders, government ministers and Commissioners from the European Commission to meet, so that they can explore first hand ways to strengthen our transatlantic supply chains in critical sectors, for example sectors like clean technologies.
Finally, a word on tech and innovation. We are home to world-class talent on both sides of the Atlantic. They are already working via Horizon Europe, the world's largest innovation programme. But we can - and we must - do more to stay ahead in the global tech race, especially in digital.
Building on CETA's success, I am pleased that we have agreed to launch work towards a Digital Trade Agreement. On top of this, I think we should deepen our research cooperation in strategic technologies like quantum. Let us connect our supercomputers. We also want to explore Canada's participation in our AI Factories initiative. And just as in defence, we should align our standards. That means working towards mutual recognition of certifications for AI products, cybersecurity, and beyond. Later this year, we will hold the first EU–Canada Digital Partnership Council. It will give us the opportunity to go further.
Dear Mark,
Thank you again for this great and productive summit; it is not over, we still have the dinner. This is the beginning of a new chapter in the long-standing friendship between Europe and Canada.
