Canada signs new partnership with Europe to deepen security, trade ties

The agreement commits Canada and Europe to collaboration on defence and is a step toward Canada participating in the continent's massive new defence procurement program.

Canada and the European Union opened a new era of transatlantic co-operation Monday with the official signing of a security and defence partnership at a joint summit in Brussels.

The agreement commits Canada and Europe to collaboration on defence and is a step toward Canada participating in the continent’s massive new defence procurement program, known as ReArm Europe.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who travelled to Brussels for the Canada-EU Summit, is pursuing more options for defence procurement as Canada seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States.

Carney met with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the summit, before the final deal was signed.

Costa said Canada and the EU are “looking at the world through the same lens” and this meeting has taken the partnership to a new level.

Von der Leyen told Carney he was “here among friends.” She said Canada and the EU are two strong democracies bound by historic ties and connected by a “dynamic, fair and open” trade partnership.

She said the EU wants not just to reaffirm the friendship and partnership with Canada but also to reshape it. She said the agreement is the “most comprehensive” ever completed.

“We know we can count on you and you can count on us,” she said.