March 17, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario

NEWS RELEASE

Prime Minister Paul Martin today announced that the semi-annual Canada-European Union Summit will be held in Ottawa on March 18, 2004. Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland and the current President of the European Union, and Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, will represent the European Union at the Summit.

"I look forward to meeting with our close EU friends and we will be looking to strengthen and deepen even further the close ties that exist between the EU and Canada," said the Prime Minister. "We have an excellent opportunity here to enhance the Canada-EU relationship and to further the important work that Canada and the EU are doing together to address global challenges. The recent terrorist bombings in Spain serve as a stark reminder for the need to build effective international mechanisms to bring terrorists to justice and to address situations that allow hatred to fester."

Summit discussions are also expected to deal with the situations in Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, and address a range of issues including enhanced cooperation between Canada and the EU, increased trade and investment relations, innovation and competitiveness and ways to deal with weapons of mass destruction.

The Leaders will discuss enhancing the Canada-EU relationship and addressing global challenges, particularly in areas of international security and economic prosperity. They will look at deepening cooperation in justice and home affairs, and fostering greater people-to-people links.

The Leaders will also examine the further enhancement of our bilateral economic relationship. Recognizing that investment has become the most dynamic element of our commercial relationship, they will explore ways to make it easier for investors on both sides of the Atlantic by removing barriers to trade and investment flows.

There will also be an important meeting between the Irish and Canadian Prime Ministers, accompanied by their Foreign and Trade Ministers. That meeting will underscore the excellent relations Canada has with Ireland. There is considerable potential to strengthen further that partnership, particularly people-to-people and commercial ties.

Ireland currently holds the rotational six month Presidency of the European Union, which ends on June 30, 2004. The Netherlands will assume the Presidency for the following six months.