Latest news with #EUCanadaSummit
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
EU and Canada to deepen ties with new security pact
BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters) - The European Union hosts Canada for a summit on Monday designed to deepen their already close ties as both face increased geopolitical threats, including a more hostile U.S. president, Russia and Middle East instability. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, who chairs EU summits, will greet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for a two-hour meeting in Brussels, a day before a NATO summit in the Hague. EU officials said the EU-Canada summit was not a "business as usual" meeting and marked a new era in bilateral ties. The two allies, who already have a free trade agreement, are due to agree to a security and defence partnership, the first the bloc has struck with a country from the Americas. The partnership will involve joint work on crisis management, cyber, maritime and space security, arms control, as well as support for Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than three years ago. It will also pave the way for Canadian companies to access the 150 billion euro ($172 billion) EU joint procurement programme SAFE. The two partners are also expected to launch negotiations on a digital agreement designed to shape global rules for data, such as on e-signatures and consumer protection or limits on spam. A draft of the joint statement refers to alignment of standards in digital regulation to make online platforms safer and more inclusive and AI systems more trustworthy, areas of regulation on which the United States has criticised the EU. ($1 = 0.8721 euros)
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
In the news today: Carney in Brussels for EU-Canada summit
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Carney in Brussels for EU-Canada summit Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Belgium today, where he will visit a military cemetery before meeting with European Union leaders at an EU-Canada summit. Carney said on social media Sunday that he was in Brussels to launch "a new era of partnership" between Canada and the European Union for the benefit of workers, businesses and security "on both sides of the Atlantic." He begins the day with a visit to the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery where 348 Canadian soldiers are buried. At the EU-Canada summit, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Defence Minister David McGuinty are expected to sign a security and defence agreement with the European bloc in what one European official described last week as one of the most ambitious deals the continent's powers have ever signed with a third country. The security and defence agreement aims to open the door to Canada's participation in the joint purchase of weapons with European countries. Here's what else we're watching... Ontario and Quebec continue to fight high heat Much of Ontario and southwestern Quebec will continue to bake in high temperatures Monday and Tuesday as a heat dome lingers over the region. Environment Canada issued a heat warning for the area on Saturday, saying hot and humid conditions will likely continue until Wednesday. In Toronto, the agency says the city saw a daytime high of 35 C on Sunday, with the humidex making it feel like 46 degrees at times. The dangerously high temperatures are expected to affect communities from southwestern Ontario and north to Sudbury and Timmins. People are encouraged to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and be on alert for early signs of heat exhaustion. Alberta votes to decide Nenshi seat in legislature Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi is looking to finally win a seat in the legislature after a year of sitting on the sidelines. He's running in one of three provincial byelections today as a candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona, where his predecessor Rachel Notley last won 80 per cent of the vote. In Edmonton-Ellerslie, NDP candidate Gurtej Singh Brar could solidify the opposition party's hold on the city, but United Conservative Party candidate Naresh Bhardwaj is hoping to make an inroad. In rural central Alberta, the separatist Republican Party of Alberta is aiming to capitalize on discontent with Ottawa. Republican leader Cameron Davies has been campaigning in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills against the UCP's Tara Sawyer, the NDP's Bev Toews and Bill Tufts of the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition. The seat became vacant after former legislature speaker and long-time UCP member of the legislature Nathan Cooper resigned to take a post as Alberta's representative in Washington, D.C. Hudson's Bay to seek approval to sell three leases Hudson's Bay is expected back in court this morning where it will ask a judge to let it sell three of its leases to a B.C. mall owner. The defunct department store wants to transfer its leases for Tsawwassen Mills, Mayfair Shopping Centre and Woodgrove Centre to Ruby Liu. The real estate maven, who leads a company that owns all three malls, has offered $6 million for the trio of leases. She also wants up to 25 more leases at malls she does not own but Hudson's Bay is still working on getting approval from landlords, who are overwhelmingly objecting. Aside from the request to sell three leases to Liu, the Ontario Superior Court will also be asked to change the name of the department store company in creditor protection to avoid confusion that could arise now that Canadian Tire owns the rights to the Bay name. Ontario proposes to weaken pending recycling rules Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government is proposing to weaken an impending slate of new recycling rules because producers of the materials said the system is getting too expensive. The province began transitioning in 2023 toward making producers pay for the recycling of their packaging, paper and single-use items. The companies' obligations were set to increase next year, but the government is now looking to delay some measures and outright cancel others, such as requirements to extend collection beyond the residential system. Environmental advocates say the proposed changes let producers off the hook and will mean more materials will end up in landfills or be incinerated. Producers say despite the rising costs, recycling rates don't actually appear to be improving, so it's time for a broader rethink. Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said the proposed changes are about ensuring the sustainability of the blue box system and protecting against unintended consequences such as job losses. The Canadian Retail Council estimates that producer costs have already increased by about 350 per cent in three years and would nearly double again just from this year to next if no changes were made to the impending new rules for 2026. The government says blue box collection costs could more than double between 2020 and 2030. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025. The Canadian Press
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Carney travelling to Europe for security, defence talks with EU, NATO
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will depart for Europe on Sunday for back-to-back summits where he is expected to make major commitments for Canada on security and defence. Carney will be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Defence Minister David McGuinty and secretary of state for defence procurement Stephen Fuhr at the EU and NATO summits, where military procurement and diversifying supply chains will top the agendas. The international meetings come as Canada looks to reduce its defence procurement reliance on the United States due to strained relations over tariffs and President Donald Trump's repeated talk about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Carney will fly first to Brussels, Belgium, starting the trip with a visit to the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery where 348 Canadian soldiers are buried. He will also meet with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. At the EU-Canada summit, Anand and McGuinty are expected to sign a security and defence agreement with the EU in what one European official described Friday as one of the most ambitious deals Europe has ever signed with a third country. The agreement will open the door to Canada's participation in the ReArm Europe initiative, allowing Canada to access a 150-billion-euro loan program for defence procurement, called Security Action for Europe. An EU official briefing reporters on Friday said once the procurement deal is in place, Canada will have to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the European Commission to begin discussions with member states about procurement opportunities. A Canadian official briefing reporters on the summit Saturday said the initial agreement will allow for Canada's participation in some joint procurement projects. However, a second agreement will be needed to allow Canadian companies to bid. At the EU-Canada summit, leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement to underscore a willingness for continued pressure on Russia, including through further sanctions, and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. After Brussels, Carney heads to The Hague in the Netherlands for the NATO leaders' summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. There, Carney will meet with the King of the Netherlands and later with leaders of Nordic nations to discuss Arctic and transatlantic security. At the NATO summit, Carney will take part in bilateral meetings with other leaders. The summit agenda includes a social dinner hosted by the king and queen of the Netherlands and a two-and-a-half hour meeting of the North Atlantic Council. NATO allies are expected to debate a plan to hike alliance members' defence spending target to five per cent of national GDP. NATO data shows that in 2024, none of its 32 members spent that much. The Canadian government official who briefed reporters on background says the spending target and its timeline are still up for discussion, though some allies have indicated they would prefer a seven-year timeline while others favour a decade. Canada hasn't hit a five- per- cent defence spending threshhold since the 1950s and hasn't reached the two per cent mark since the late 1980s. NATO says that, based on its estimate of which expenditures count toward the target, Canada spent $41 billion in 2024 on defence, or 1.37 per cent of GDP. That's more than twice what it spent in 2014, when the two per cent target was first set; that year, Canada spent $20.1 billion, or 1.01 per cent of GDP, on defence. In 2014, only three NATO members achieved the two per cent target — the U.S., the U.K., and Greece. In 2025, all members are expected to hit it. Any agreement to adopt a new spending benchmark must be ratified by all 32 NATO member states. Former Canadian ambassador to NATO Kerry Buck told The Canadian Press the condensed agenda is likely meant to "avoid public rifts among allies," describing Trump as an "uncertainty engine." "The national security environment has really, really shifted," Buck said, adding allies next door to Russia face the greatest threats. "There is a high risk that the U.S. would undercut NATO at a time where all allies are increasingly vulnerable." Trump has suggested the U.S. might abandon its mutual defence commitment to the alliance if member countries don't ramp up defence spending. "Whatever we can do to get through this NATO summit with few public rifts between the U.S. and other allies on anything, and satisfy a very long-standing U.S. demand to rebalance defence spending, that will be good for Canada because NATO's good for Canada," Buck said. Carney has already made two trips to Europe this year — the first to London and Paris to meet with European allies and the second to Rome to attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
