Mogherini welcomes close EU-Canada cooperation

High Representative Federica Mogherini i travelled to Canada for her first official visit, welcoming the close cooperation between the EU i and Canada and looking forward to the signature of new agreements to take that cooperation to a new level.

Ahead of the EU-Canada summit in the autumn, Mogherini said she hoped the two sides would sign the Strategic Partnership Agreement as well as the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement by the end of the year.

“Our cooperation in the field of foreign policy is excellent and we really see Canada as a key partner in multilateralism, in conflict management and conflict prevention, for stabilising the different crises we have around us and we know that we can count on a purely like-minded partner when it comes to Canada’s strong role in foreign policy,” Mogherini said after talks with Canadian Foreign Minister, Stéphane Dion.

“We have an excellent cooperation also in defence and security, as well as in areas where it might not be so obvious for the Canadian public opinion to have a strong European Union engagement; but issues like our cooperation in the Arctic is something that for us is very important as a way of building cooperation on the international level and as a way of sharing some of the key priorities we have, be it respect for the environment or of the social and economic conditions of the indigenous people. We have a lot to share starting from our values.

“We find that Canada is an extremely strong and reliable partner in the multilateral system, starting from the UN system, and we are looking forward to our cooperation in that respect. Migration is another issue where we share the same attitude of protecting people’s lives in an orderly and regulated manner, and we really appreciate Canada's efforts to do its part in managing the global phenomenon of our time: migration and refugee flows,” she added.

Mogherini and Dion discussed the possibilities for a common contribution to the forthcoming UN summits on migration and refugees in September.

Mogherini also expressed the hope that progress could be made on achieving full visa waiver reciprocity for EU and Canadian citizens.

“So we are also confident that we will manage to move this file forward so that we can really celebrate this 40th anniversary of our diplomatic relations in the best possible way,” she said.

During her visit, Mogherini met also the ministers for National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, for Migration, John McCallum, and for International trade, Chrystia Freeland.

Link to the video: http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I122061