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Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the webpage of the Delegation for Relations with Canada. It is my privilege and honour to chair this European Parliament delegation for the 2019-2024 term.

The EU and Canada share common values and goals and have the same world vision. Our Delegation is one of the oldest in the European Parliament, reflecting the importance of the partnership and close cooperation between the EU and Canada.

The relationship between the two sides has been considerably strengthened by the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. These historic agreements have brought the EU and Canada closer together, confirming their privileged, updated and strengthened partnership.

The Delegation for Relations with Canada pays close attention to developments in this direct and bilateral relationship. In addition to holding annual interparliamentary meetings with our Canadian counterparts in the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, we also organise regular meetings of the Delegation in the European Parliament.

I intend to continue the constructive work begun by our Delegation during the previous term, when we deepened and intensified the dialogue with the Parliament of Canada, as reflected in the Joint Declaration adopted at the 38th EU-Canada Intergovernmental Conference.

I would like to invite you to follow our activities on this webpage.

Stéphanie Yon-Courtin

Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Canada

The 42nd EU-Canada Inter- Parliamentary Meeting

11-06-2023 - 15:50
In the margins of the EU-Canada IPM, the Co-Chairs and the Vice-Chairs have shared their thoughts and impressions about the discussions in the IPM and the future of EU-Canada relations in an interview on Europarl TV. The link for the full interview is here below.

The 42nd EU-Canada Inter- Parliamentary Meeting

11-06-2023 - 15:46
The 42nd EU-Canada Inter- Parliamentary Meeting took place in Brussels on the 8-9 June 2023. The participating Members of the European Parliament and the Parliament of Canada discussed amongst other things foreign policy, security and defense, the ratification and full implementation of CETA, AI regulation, cooperation on energy security and supply of critical minerals as well as cooperation in the fight against foreign interference. This EU-Canada IPM also comprised a meeting in NATO Headquarters. he participating Members stressed the tremendous potential of the EU - Canada cooperation and all that was the EU and Canada have already achieved together. The Joint Statement signed by the Co-Chairs of the IPM is attached hereto.

European Parliament meets Canadian Parliament

13-12-2022 - 09:44
Canada – EU relations
Canada – EU relations © European Union
The European Parliament meets the Canadian Parliament and relevant stakeholders for EU-Canada relations in Ottawa and Montreal.

The 41st EU - Canada Inter-Parliamentary Meeting will take place in Ottawa on 17 December 2022. The main discussion topics include the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and EU-Canada Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), digital regulation and global digital giants, energy security and climate change cooperation, as well as migration and global displacement. On the occasion of 41st EU-Canada Inter-Parliamentary meeting, the Members of the Delegation for relations with Canada (D-CA) participating in the inter-parliamentary meeting will combine the visit to Ottawa with meetings in Montreal.

On 16 December, they will have meetings in Montreal with (i) Lithion, a battery recycling company, (ii) Investissement Québec, Quebec's provincial trade and investment promotion company, (iii) representatives of EU businesses in Canada, (iv) Quebec's Deputy Minister for Migration, as well as (v) MILA, the main artificial intelligence institute in the province of Quebec.

The aim of the inter-parliamentary meeting in Ottawa between the European and Canadian lawmakers is to take stock of the current legislative agendas on both sides of the Atlantic and to exchange views on how to strengthen and further expand transatlantic cooperation in relevant matters for both sides, looking in particular at trade, research and innovation.

The EP delegation is led by D-CA Chair Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew Europe, France) who chairs the Parliament's Delegation for relations with Canada. It will be composed of 6 MEPs from 5 political groups. The House of Commons delegation is led by Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association (CAEU)'s President Francesco Sorbara (Liberal Party of Canada, Ontario).

Statement on the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II

14-09-2022 - 17:14
Twitter/@RoyalFamily
The Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Canada, Ms Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, would like to extend her heartfelt condolences to the People of Canada for the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada and Canada's longest-reigning sovereign.

As Canada honours the extraordinary life of public service of Her Majesty and remembers the Queen's deep affection for and strong dedication to Canada, the Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Canada, together with its Members, shares in the People of Canada's great sadness as they remember their extraordinary Monarch.

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau addresses plenary of the European Parliament

19-04-2022 - 16:48
The D-CA Bureau (Vice- Chairs Mircea-Gheorghe HAVA and Javier MORENO SÁNCHEZ, Chair Stéphanie YON-COURTIN) with Justin Trudeau, EP President Roberta METSOLA and MEP Robert BIEDROŃ

On 24 March 2022, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada formally addressed the plenary of the European Parliament after having had a bilateral meeting with Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament. The speech of Justin Trudeau was followed by one round of interventions by the political group leaders.

In his speech, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned "Putin's criminal invasion of a sovereign, independent, democracy: Ukraine."

"Vladimir Putin has violated the most basic precepts of international law. And he is now killing innocent civilians by bombing hospitals and residential buildings. This blatant disregard for the law and for human life poses an immense threat to Europe and to the world", he said.

"Canada, the EU, and all of our partners and allies are facing a defining moment. We cannot fail. We must meet this moment. Putin thought democracy was weak. He thought he could weaken the EU and NATO. But he miscalculated. NATO and the EU are now more resolved and united than ever", he said, before adding:

"We cannot let Ukraine down. They are counting on us. So let us use all the tools we have at our disposal. We must continue to impose unprecedented sanctions on Putin and his enablers in Russia and Belarus, increasing the pressure, as much as we can", the Canadian Prime Minister said.

You can watch the speech of Prime Minister Trudeau and the introduction of European Parliament President Metsola here. (Written speech here)

Constituent meeting

16-04-2020 - 09:38
the newly elected Bureau of the Delegation for Relations with Canada, Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Javier Moreno Sánchez and Mircea-Gheorghe Hava
the newly elected Bureau of the Delegation for Relations with Canada © European Union (EP) 2019

  • At the constituent meeting of the Delegation for relations with Canada (D-CA), which was held on 26 September 2019, a Chair and two Vice-Chairs were elected. Ms Stéphanie YON-COURTIN (Chair, Renew, France) was elected Chair. Mr Javier MORENO SÁNCHEZ (S&D, SP) and Mr Mircea-Gheorghe HAVA (EPP, RO) were elected to first and second Vice-Chair respectively. The whole Bureau, which was elected by acclamation, showed enthusiasm and commitment to continue the good work of the delegation. The members welcomed the proposal of the chair to hold the first regular meeting on 23 October 2019 in Strasbourg.

  • The 40th Inter-Parliamentary meeting (IPM) took place in Strasbourg on 14 March 2019. The Members of the Canadian House of Commons and the European Parliament had deep and wide-ranging 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, they considered trade (CETA implementation and USMCA/trade relationship with the US). The Co-Presidents also signed a joint statement after the meeting.

Contacts

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Links

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