Directorate-General for Trade

Canada

Canada is currently the EU's 11th most important trading partner, accounting for 1.7% of the EU's total external trade. The EU is Canada's second most important trading partner, after the U.S., with a 10% share of its total external trade. The value of bilateral trade in goods rose to € 49.9 bn in 2008, with high value-added products such as machinery, transport equipment and chemicals making up around half the EU's exports of goods to Canada and 32% of its imports of goods from Canada. An additional 15% of trade consists of agricultural- or energy-related products. Trade in services, particularly travel and transportation, is an important area of the trade relationship. Investment, too, is a particularly strong feature, with the EU ranking as the second investor in Canada, and Canada as the fourth investor in the EU.

The EU-Canada relationship

In 1976, Canada and the EU signed the first-ever Framework Agreement for Commercial and Economic Cooperation between the EU and an industrialised country. For over 30 years the Agreement has provided the foundation for the management and development of the EU Canada relationship in an increasing number of fields, including trade.

The EU and Canada meet in annual bilateral Summits, at which the issues of greatest importance to the relationship, including trade issues, are discussed. In addition, senior European Commission and Canadian Federal Government officials, in the presence of representatives of the Canadian provinces and of EU Member States, meet once a year in a Joint Cooperation Committee to review the full range of issues relating to EU-Canada economic and trade relations.

A number of bilateral agreements designed to facilitate closer trade have been signed over the years. These include agreements on cooperation between EU and Canadian customs administrators (1997); a Veterinary Agreement (1999), aiming to improve bilateral trade in live animals and animal products; a Wine and Spirits Agreement (2003); a Civil Aviation Safety Agreement (2009) and a Comprehensive Air Services Agreement (initialled in 2008 and expected to be signed in late 2009).

Strengthening the economic and trade relationship

At their June 2007 Summit, Canada and the EU agreed to undertake jointly a study to assess the costs and benefits of a closer economic partnership. The Joint Study, published in October 2008, demonstrated potential gains for both Canada and the EU from the liberalisation of their bilateral trade. At their October 2008 Summit, the EU and Canada agreed to work together to define the scope of a deepened economic agreement, and to identify the factors which would be crucial to the success of any negotiations.

A Joint Report on the EU-Canada Scoping Exercise was agreed on in February 2009, and at the EU-Canada Summit in Prague on 6th May 2009 the launch of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was announced.

The first round of CETA negotiations took place from 19 to 23 October 2009 in Ottawa, and was considered by both sides to have been very productive. Good progress was been made in most areas towards reaching a consolidated common text. Both negotiating partners continue to aim at a very advanced agreement, exceeding in its level of ambition any trade and economic agreement negotiated either by the EU or by Canada to date.

The second round of CETA negotiations is scheduled to take place from 18 - 22 January 2010, in Brussels. Thereafter, future rounds will take place at 3-monthly intervals with the aim of concluding negotiations within two years.