Tarpparlamentiniai susitikimai

The 40th IPM, which took place in Strasbourg on 14 March 2019, was a very successful meeting that confirmed the good relations that exist between the two delegations, the like-mindedness of the EU and Canada as well as the increasing maturity of the EU Canada inter-parliamentary dialogue.

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.

A 9-member delegation of the EP Canada Delegation, led by its chair, Bernd Kölmel, went to Canada for the 39th Inter-parliamentary meeting (IPM) with the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa on 7-8 May 2018. This was the first opportunity for the Delegation to visit Canada since the adoption of the Joint Statement in June 2017, which foresees an intensification of the inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation. During the IPM, the good attendance from EU and Canada, including from government and opposition MPs, allowed for well-informed discussions. Members discussed:

• 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.

The 38th EU-Canada meeting was structured around three working sessions on:

• 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.

The Delegation for relations with Canada participated in the 37th EU-Canada Inter-parliamentary meeting and held numerous working visits in Ottawa, Quebec and Montreal from 16th to 20th May 2016. 7 Members of the Delegation participated in the visit, which was the first outgoing mission of the delegation since 2012.

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.

The working visits included among others, the House of Commons in Ottawa, the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services and meetings in the Quebec National Assembly and its President, Jacques Chagnon. The Delegation also had working visits in Montreal, to the CANMET Energy Research Centre in Varennes and the Centre of Prevention of Radicalisation Leading to Violence.

The meeting of the Delegation for relations with Canada was held on 13th November in Brussels.
The meeting included a working session on CETA and the Strategic Partnership Agreement.