Ahern leads EU-Canada summit

Taoiseach and President of the European Council, Bertie Ahern, accompanied by President Romano Prodi of the European Commission and EU High Representative Javier Solana, is leading the EU delegation to Ottawa for the EU-Canada Summit today.

He will meet with new Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, and meetings will also be held at Foreign and Trade Ministerial levels.

Ahern said: "The Summit will see the adoption of two important documents aimed at taking the strategic partnership between the EU and Canada to a new level. The'EU-Canada Partnership Agenda' is the culmination of a review of the relationship begun in December 2002."

He also said that following last week's terrorist attacks in Madrid, deepening co-operation against international terrorism will be high on the agenda for the Summit, as would wider transatlantic relations, effective multilateralism, innovation and competitiveness.

The EU Foreign Ministerial team, led by Brian Cowen and Javier Solana, will have discussions with Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, William Graham, on a wide range of foreign policy issues, including Afghanistan, Haiti and the Middle East.

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Minister of State Michael Ahern will meet with Canadian Minister of International Trade, James Peterson todiscuss the framework for the new Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement (TIEA), as well as international trade and EU-Canada trade issues.