Carney presses EU leaders to ratify CETA at Dublin summit

Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed for closer economic and security ties with Europe at a political summit in Dublin on Thursday, and met the leaders of two of the nine European Union countries that have yet to ratify the Canada-EU trade deal, The Canadian Press reported.

Carney was in the Irish capital for the European Political Community, an informal gathering of European leaders held every six months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is the second time Canada has been invited, and for the second time it was the only non-European country at the table. Dublin is the first stop on a four-country trip that continues to Manila and Phnom Penh.

On the sidelines, Carney sat down with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Neither country has ratified the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA, which has been in effect on a provisional basis since 2017.

Christodoulides said ahead of his private talks with Carney that his government is doing what is needed to pass the agreement. "We are doing whatever is necessary in order to pass the agreement, (the) free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada, which is very important for both of us," he said. He added that the meeting was the first between a Canadian prime minister and a Cypriot president in 80 years.

Both Cyprus and Greece have held back over questions about protected origins for cheeses, including whether Canadian-made products can be called feta or halloumi, The Canadian Press reported. Carney also held informal discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Latvia, Ireland and Denmark. France and Ireland have not ratified the deal either.

The talks follow the Alliance for the Future announced with the European Union on Nov. 2. Since the last summit in Armenia in May, Carney and EU leaders have discussed making Canada an "associate member" of the EU, a title that has not been defined.

Carney told reporters on Thursday morning that the summit could advance his goal of boosting affordability and economic opportunities for Canadians through new partnerships with Europe. "It delivers opportunity, opportunity for our youth, for our artists, for companies. It will deliver affordability, cutting red tape, more competition in Canada, more goods, more choice and security," he said in English.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefed Carney and about a dozen European leaders on the state of negotiations with Russia, including this week’s talks in Abu Dhabi involving U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Carney said security guarantees for Ukraine after any peace deal are mainly a European responsibility, with support from Canada and the United States. Such guarantees can include troops to keep a ceasefire in place or to defend a country if it is invaded, he said in French.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday that the United States, Europe and Ukraine are "very much aligned" on what security guarantees should look like once a viable peace is established, The Associated Press reported.

Carney also spoke in Dublin about the sale of Stellantis’s idled Brampton plant, saying it is only a partial fix for laid-off workers. For background on the trade file, see our earlier report that the Canada-EU pact will not include free labour movement.

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Source: The Canadian Press, Carney in Ireland for meetings with European leaders ahead of Asia summits.