On the occasion of the visit of Valdis Dombrovskis – Executive Vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for Trade – in Ottawa, EUCCAN’s President Adrian Thomas attended a roundtable discussion hosted by the Honourable Mary Ng on Friday December 2nd 2022 to discuss how CETA contributes to our Transatlantic Economic Security.
Adrian Thomas underlined the importance to further deepen the trade and economic relations between Europe and Canada, two key allies in the transatlantic relation. Taking stock of the common challenges that Europe and Canada are currently facing, Adrian Thomas insisted on the need to strengthen the partnership in key areas such as energy, raw material, fair competition and sustainability. Lessons from the covid crisis have to be learnt – diversifying and increasing the resilience of our vital supply chains is paramount.
To that end and to ensure a seamless integration of our supply chains, Adrian Thomas stressed the need to further the implementation of CETA, incl. through dialogue between business and government, on such key features as :
– Codes and Standards harmonization
– Labor mobility, the recognition of professional qualifications, certifications
– Support for companies to reach their sustainability goals
The roundtable was also an opportunity to take stock of the very good results of CETA, as we celebrate its 5th anniversary. All participants welcomed the recent vote by the German Bundestag giving its approval to Germany’s ratification of CETA. EUCCAN called for the ratification process to go ahead in other EU Member States.
