The European Parliament adopted by 506 votes to 142, with 43 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

In line with the recommendation made by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the report by Charles TANNOCK (ECR, UK) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

In view of the strategic, political and economic benefits resulting from a successful conclusion of this Strategic Partnership Agreement and its positive contribution to multilateralism, international peace and security, economic and sustainable development, justice, freedom and security, the committee recommend that the European Parliament give consent to the conclusion of this Agreement.

This Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) aims to intensify this bilateral cooperation in areas such as foreign and security policy, counter-terrorism, the fight against organised crime, sustainable development, research and culture. It also provides for political dialogue and consultation mechanisms, such as Joint Ministerial Committee and Joint Cooperation Committee.

As indicated in the European Parliament’s resolution of 10 December 2013, the EU’s relations with Canada are based on shared values as illustrated by a long history of extensive political and economic cooperation.

Canada and the EU share a strong commitment to democracy, fundamental freedoms, the protection of human rights, liberal and open trade and multilateralism. Canada has been a Strategic Partner of the EU since 1996 and is an important ally on the international scene.

Canada and the EU have worked together closely on global challenges such as climate change, human rights, energy security, conflict resolution, counter terrorism and forced migration.

Canada regularly contributes to the EU’s civilian and military CSDP missions and is an important ally in NATO.

Since 2003, this partner committed financial and/or human resources in ten of 34 EU CSDP missions/operations, in eight countries and in three regions.

PURPOSE: to conclude the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has approved the latter.

BACKGROUND: the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part, was signed on 30 October 2016, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

The Agreement should now be approved.

CONTENT: the draft Council decision is aimed at approving, on behalf of the Union , the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

The objective of the Agreement is to strengthen cooperation across a wide spectrum of policy fields including (i) human rights and fundamental freedoms, (ii) democracy and the rule of law, (iii) international peace and security and effective multilateralism, (iv) economic and sustainable development, (v) justice, freedom and security.

The Agreement will strengthen political dialogue and consultation and will establish a Joint Ministerial Committee and a Joint Cooperation Committee with the objective of monitoring the development in the strategic relationship between the Parties.

For more details on the content of the Agreement, please refer to the summary of the initial joint proposal of the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, dated 23.11.2016.

PURPOSE: to conclude the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has approved the latter.

BACKGROUND: on 8 December 2010, the Council adopted a Decision authorising the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to negotiate a Framework Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, on the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

The negotiations on the Agreement commenced in September 2011 and concluded in September 2014 with initialling of the Agreement. Following the adoption of the Council Decision on the signing and provisional application of the Agreement on 28 October 2016, the Agreement was signed on 30 October 2016 at the 16th EU-Canada Summit.

The present joint proposal concerns the legal instrument concluding the Agreement.

Note on legal basis : Article 218(6)(a)(iii) TFEU states that, where an agreement establishes a specific institutional framework by organising cooperation procedures, the Council shall adopt a decision concluding the agreement after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament . Moreover, the second subparagraph of Article 218(8) TFEU states that the Council shall act unanimously when the agreement covers a field for which unanimity is required for the adoption of a Union act.

The Agreement pursues objectives and has components in the areas of the common foreign and security policy and technical cooperation with developed countries. These aspects of the Agreement are inseparably linked without one being incidental to the other.

The common foreign and security policy is a field for which unanimity is required for adopting a Union act. The Agreement establishes an institutional framework for cooperation between the EU and Canada.

The legal basis of the proposed decision should therefore be Article 37 TEU and Article 212(1) TFEU read in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a) TFEU and the second subparagraph of Article 218(8) TFEU.

CONTENT : the Commission and of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy jointly propose that the Council adopt a decision approving the Framework Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part, on behalf of the Union.

The text of the Agreement is attached to the Decision.

The aim of the Agreement is to strengthen existing cooperation between the Parties, which is based on the 1976 Framework Agreement for commercial and economic cooperation, in order to cover political dialogue and common foreign and security policy-related issues, and a broad range of sectors including environment, justice and security, migration and integration, fisheries, education, culture, human rights, northern development and indigenous issues, youth exchanges and transport security.

The Agreement (SPA) envisages several kinds of cooperation:

Political cooperation : the aim of the SPA is to strengthen EU - Canada political ties and cooperation on foreign and security issues, and to advance cooperation on a large number of policy areas besides trade and economics.

The Agreement enshrines EU-Canada common democratic values and will advance cooperation on a bilateral and multilateral level. The SPA will strengthen political dialogue in fields such as:

climate change, energy, environment, development, research and innovation, education and culture, migration, counter-terrorism and the fight against organised crime and cybercrime.

It reaffirms the Parties' commitment to safeguarding international peace and security by preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and undertaking measures to deal with the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

Institutional cooperation : the SPA provides the mechanism for conducting political dialogue by organising annual summits at leaders level and consultations at ministerial level. It also establishes a Joint Ministerial Committee, which replaces the previous Transatlantic Dialogue, and a Joint Cooperation Committee with the objective of monitoring the development of the strategic relationship between the Parties.

Suspension mechanism : the Agreement provides for the possibility of suspending its application in case of a violation of essential elements of the Agreement such as human rights and non-proliferation. In addition, the Parties recognise that a particularly serious and substantial violation of human rights or non-proliferation could also serve as grounds for the termination of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The SPA, in conjunction with the CETA, is expected to provide tangible benefits and opportunities to the citizens of the EU and Canada.