March 18, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario

NEWS RELEASE

The attached Declaration on Canada-EU Relations was released today at the conclusion of the semi-annual Canada-European Union Summit. The Summit was presided over by Prime Minister Paul Martin, Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland and the current President of the European Union, and Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission.


DECLARATION ON CANADA-EU RELATIONS

We, the leaders of Canada and the European Union, met today in Ottawa to discuss ways to strengthen our bilateral ties and to work together as strategic partners to make the world more peaceful and equitable.

Our discussions have shown that our relationship is flourishing. We are determined to develop it further, both bilaterally, and as an essential pillar of the wider transatlantic partnership. Together with the U.S. and other partners, we have a duty to work towards a freer, more democratic, more just and prosperous world.

We share a commitment to strong and effective multilateral institutions and the international rule of law. Transnational challenges such as terrorism, proliferation or the abuse of human rights can only be tackled by a concerted effort on the part of the international community, with a central role for the UN. Sustainable solutions to regional conflicts likewise require international assistance and co-operation. Finally, growing economic and financial interdependence calls for increased multilateral governance.

We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, last week’s brutal terrorist attacks in Madrid. We again offer our condolences to the bereaved, to the Spanish people and to the Spanish Government. This atrocity convinces us all the more of the need to work together to tackle the pre-eminent threats to global security, including the scourge of terrorism. We will further strengthen our efforts with the wider international community to prevent terrorist attacks, to protect people and societies, and to apprehend and prosecute terrorists. We will do so with full respect for human rights and freedoms and in defence of these common values.


1. Canada - EU Partnership Agenda

Today we have adopted a new Partnership Agenda, strengthening and deepening the close ties that exist between Canada and the EU. We will enhance our co-operation in foreign and security policy, drawing on our shared commitment to effective multilateral institutions and effective global governance. We will work together more closely in the field of justice and home affairs, to assure the security and protect the rights of our citizens. We are both committed to reinvigorating global economic growth through a successful round of multilateral trade talks. We will tackle together the global challenges that affect us, including climate change and poverty in developing countries. To this end, we look forward to closer, more systematic contacts between our parliamentarians. We will promote exchanges between our citizens, especially young people. We have also revitalised the mechanics of our relationship, to ensure that good intentions translate into concrete joint actions.

2. Canada - EU Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement

The interconnected trans-Atlantic market is vital to our economic prosperity, especially investment which has become the engine of accelerating interdependence between North America and Europe. We agreed today to a framework for a new Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement (TIEA) between Canada and the European Union to further stimulate our bilateral commercial relationship. The TIEA will move beyond traditional market access issues and offer concrete results to our business communities by reducing barriers to trade and investment flows. Negotiations are expected to begin this year.

3. Our Discussions Today: Putting Effective Multilateralism into Action.

In our discussions today we focussed on means to translate our shared values of political pluralism, democracy, rule of law and human rights into concrete action on the ground.

• We discussed the need for new thinking on the urgent requirement to make our multilateral institutions more effective. We again emphasised the great importance we attach to the UN being at the heart of the multilateral system and discussed the issue of UN reform. We expressed our full support to the efforts of Kofi Annan to reinvigorate this essential institution. We agreed that informal meetings that bring together current and emerging countries of influence could help galvanize global action on global problems.
  
  
• We agreed that challenges to protect international natural resources, including fish stocks, to promote sustainable land uses and to combat climate change require imaginative approaches that our current international systems find difficult to deliver.
  
  
• We also agreed that an ambitious outcome to the Doha Development Agenda is vital for increasing economic growth and social prosperity for the world by making trade more open and predictable and by strengthening multilateral rules. We are committed to making decisive progress in 2004.
  
  
• We agreed that there is need for clear international principles to authorise, in extreme circumstances, outside intervention in the territory of a sovereign country to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. We have the experience and the values to help develop these principles.
  
  
• We discussed the need to proceed quickly with plans to provide greater access to medicines for developing countries, particularly in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, suffering from HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria or other epidemics. We agreed that this requires significant leadership, greater resources & broad implementation of the WTO August 30th 2003 Decision with respect to access to medicines.
  
  
• We agreed to work together on the threat of nuclear proliferation in Iran and the need to strengthen democratic reform in that country. We welcomed the progress toward the elimination of weapons of mass destruction from Libya, discussed how to eliminate such weapons from other parts of the world and undertook to work together to strengthen multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation regimes and organizations. We underlined that the NPT and the IAEA are both important fora in this regard.
  
  
• We are strongly committed to promoting democratic stability and economic reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq as early as possible.
  
  
• We agreed on the need to support the process of national reconciliation and the re-establishment of the rule of law in Haiti, leading to the organisation of free and fair elections. We also agreed on the need for humanitarian assistance as well as the need for short and long term support and engagement for Haiti’s development.
  
  
• We call for a decisive relaunching of the Middle East Peace Process and a concerted effort towards a lasting and just peace. The present situation brings enormous human suffering to the peoples concerned and contributes to instability in the region. We stand ready, together with the U.S. and other partners, to respond favourably to a call from the countries of the region for assistance for political, economic and social reforms.