26 May: EU-Canada summit

Date: 29/06/2000

EU and Canadian leaders called for an early launch of global trade liberalisation talks and agreed to promote international conflict prevention at their twice-yearly summit.

AT THE meeting in Lisbon, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Guterres and European Commission President Romano Prodi said a fresh set of multilateral trade negotiations was crucial for economic growth and to meet the challenges of globalisation. “We reaffirm that a new round of World Trade Organisation negotiations is a key to responding successfully to these challenges and we shall work together to seek a consensus to launch negotiations as early as possible,” they said in a joint statement.

THE two sides also issued a 'joint statement on peace building and conflict prevention' under which they pledged to meet within six months to assess progress on a range of measures, including controls on the export of small arms and light weapons and action to reduce the risk of civil war. The agreement aims to boost support for organisations such as the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a way of reducing hostilities. “We are all aware that international conflicts are multiplying. It is necessary to find more efficient ways to prevent them as it is very expensive for the international community to control them once they have broken out,” said Guterres after the meeting.

THE summit also discussed the EU's plans to create an independent military crisis management capability. Chretien said he was satisfied that Canada, as a NATO member, would be fully consulted over any operational decisions which the Union took. Leaders on both sides expressed concern about a US scheme for a national anti-missile shield which could antagonise Russia and upset the balance of arms between Washington and Moscow.