EU and Canada?

Canada is one of the European Union’s oldest and closest partners. What started out in the 1950s as a purely economic relationship has evolved over the years to become a close strategic partnership. The EU and Canada work closely together on global challenges such as the environment, climate change, energy security and regional stability throughout the world. This co-operation stretches from research into alternative energy sources to providing police training in Afghanistan. European and Canadian representatives meet regularly to exchange views, from yearly bilateral summits of leaders to meetings between officials on specific issues. The EU-Canada Partnership Agenda adopted at the Ottawa Summit on 18 March 2004, identifies ways of working together to move forward, especially where joint action can achieve more than acting alone. The Partnership Agenda acknowledges the significant evolution of EU-Canada relations as a result of developments in the EU since 1976 when the relationship with Canada was first formalised through the Framework Agreement on Economic Co-operation. This was the first formal agreement of its kind between what was then the EEC and an industrialised third country. In addition to trade relations, other policy sectors are also important in the relationship: cooperation in justice and home affairs, science & technology, education & training Source: EU and Canada, europa.eu