Facing global crises, EU and Canada with new security and technology pact

According to Reuters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyeen and European Council President Antonio Costa welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at a two-hour meeting on the eve of the NATO summit in The Hague.

It becomes known that EU officials have stressed that this summit was not a routine meeting, but a new moment in relations between the two allies, who already have a free trade agreement.

It is reported that at the centre of the summit is the first security and defence agreement the EU signed with a state from America, Canada. It includes collaboration in crisis management, cyber security, sea and spatial, weapons control, and support for Ukraine, which has been under Russian occupation for more than three years.

The agreement will also pave the way for Canadian companies to get access to the common EU procurement programme, dubbed SAFE, worth 150 billion euros.

In other details, it has become known that the EU and Canada are also expected to start negotiations on a digital agreement, aimed at affecting global data regulations involving issues such as electronic firms, consumer protection and Spam restrictions.

While a draft of the joint declaration calls for compliance with standards in the digital regulation in order for online platforms to be safer and more inclusive, as well as to make artificial intelligence systems more reliable areas for which the United States has criticised the EU./Periscopi/