Tarpparlamentiniai susitikimai
40th EU-Canada IPM, 14 March 2019, Strasbourg
The Members of the Canadian House of Commons and the European Parliament had rich exchanges of views in two working sessions.
• In the first working session, Members debated recent political developments in the EU and Canada (such as EP and Canadian elections, including migration and environment/climate change and Brexit).
• During the second one, they dealt with Trade (CETA implementation and USMCA/trade relationship with the US).
The two co-presidents (Bernd Kölmel, MEP and Scott Simms, MP) signed a joint statement in which they expressed they are confident that EU-Canada relations are in rude health, and that our cooperation will continue to flourish in the new parliaments.
39th EU-Canada IPM, 7-11 May 2018, Ottawa and British Columbia
• environment, climate change and the respect for the commitments in the Paris Agreement by Canada and the EU in the context of the different energy realities;
• the implementation of CETA in the climate of increasing protectionism;
• migration policies and what Canada and the EU can learn from each other.
In Ottawa, members participated in the official Europe day reception hosted by EU Ambassador Peteris Ustubs in Trillium Ball Room in Shaw Centre and they were welcomed at the Speakers Gallery during Question period in the House of Commons.
To acquaint themselves with this huge and very diverse country, Members this time travelled to British Columbia (BC). During a rich and varied programme, members looked at the realities surrounding trade, migration and climate change on the ground in British Columbia. After meeting provincial ministers, members were welcomed at the University of Victoria (UVic), which has a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and actively cooperates with EU universities.
The highlights included meeting the Oceans Network Canada in UVic, visiting Brock Commons, currently the tallest wooden building in the world, getting a tour of the clean energy research centre at University of British Columbia (UBC) and flying in a seaplane between Vancouver and Victoria. Members felt the Vancouver dynamism during discussions with start-up companies at BC Tech business association and discussed (and tasted) (Italian) Geographic Indicators during an event of the European and Italian Chambers of Commerce.
At UBC, members had a good exchange with migration experts, comparing EU and Canadian migration policies. To acquaint themselves with the realities on the ground, members visited the newest reception facilities for newcomers at the immigration services society, which integrates all services needed by newcomers under one roof.
The mission showed that EU and Canada are not only like-minded partners, cooperating closely on many fields, but also that through these exchanges policy makers on both sides can learn from each other policies practices.
38th EU-Canada IPM, 22 June 2017, Brussels
- The future of bilateral relations following the provisional entry into force of CETA and the Strategic Partnership Agreement, with Roland Schaefer, Deputy Managing Director for the Americas, European External Action Service and Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Director for Neighbouring Countries, USA and Canada at DG Trade of the European Commission, as speakers;
- on European and Canadian defence policies: NATO and beyond (in association with the Subcommittee on Security and Defence), with Gabor Iklody, Director, Crisis Management and Planning Directorate, European External Action Service and Gabriel Bernier, Head of the Defence Policy Section, NATO, as speakers;
- on climate change, environment and energy, with Adalbert Jahnz, Policy Officer at DG Climate Action of the European Commission as speaker.
The IPM also adopted a Joint Statement, noting the new opportunities for political cooperation created by the bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA). Article 27 of the SPA agreement specifies that both sides should promote "exchanges of delegations from the European Parliament and the Parliament of Canada". The IPM resolved in transforming these regular inter-parliamentary meetings into an ongoing and uninterrupted dialogue.
37th EU-Canada IPM meeting and working visit, 16-20 May 2016, Canada
The IPM meeting included round table discussions covered the following topics:
- Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA);
- Migration / Current Refugee Crisis;
- Environment / Climate Change / Energy.
36th EU-Canada IPM, 13 November 2014, Brussels
The meeting included a working session on CETA and the Strategic Partnership Agreement.