Foreign Affairs committee  John, if you wouldn't mind, given that the strategic partnership agreement does not deal directly with those two issues, it might be better for you to speak.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. In fact that is, I think, one of the major outcomes, we hope, for the strategic partnership agreement. That is the importance, again, of early and regular dialogue. We hope that some of the irritants we currently face with the EU could be avoided in the future if we were to meet on a more regular basis and were to meet much earlier, before these sorts of minor irritants took on a life of their own and became much more public.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's an extremely fair comment, and you can appreciate that I may not be able to go into the details of government positions with regards to certain relations with certain countries. I think the devil is in the details. When I speak about like-mindedness, it really is on those larger shared values, whether it is the promotion of human rights and freedoms, promotion of democracy, or combatting terrorism and organized crime.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's exactly why the strategic partnership agreement is so important. Being able to be identified by the EU as a strategic partner, to have them recognize not only the long-standing but the future possibilities and potential for cooperation, is extremely important. This is, despite the current vicissitudes in Europe, a major power, economically as well as politically, and one that we need to deal with in NATO, the G-8, and the G-20.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm feeling rather chagrined that I brought John along all this way and haven't allowed him to speak, so if you wouldn't mind, I may ask you to speak to that.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Ms. Laverdière. I am delighted to answer your question, but I am going to do it in English so that I can be sure that my answer will be clear. There is, indeed. You're well informed. This section on sustainable development treats a variety of issues with regard to our cooperation, particularly with regard to our efforts and activities in third world countries or in developing countries.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd be happy to. It's very different, obviously, from a free trade agreement where there are much more measurable consequences to actions taken or not taken and where there may even be penalties of a sort. This is a political agreement. Really, it's a matter of discussion and being able to come to agreement where we think there may have been differences in the implementation of various cooperation agreements.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, vice-chairs, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for your invitation today to brief you on the Canada-EU strategic partnership agreement. I'm pleased to report that discussions on the strategic partnership agreement are advancing well, and that we expect to conclude the agreement later this year.

Foreign Affairs committee  In fact, Madame Laverdière, we've had discussions with a variety of interested stakeholders from across the federal government, including CIDA, naturally. One area that hasn't been fully developed is a dialogue in development cooperation. There are informal regional discussions, and in the margins a multilateral forum, but we haven't really had a formal dialogue.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's not so much a stumbling block. It's usually the last stage in a negotiation. One gets agreement on the text, and at the end, of course, one has to agree on how to interpret, define, and implement that agreement. That's the point we've come to, with 90% agreement, we think, on the actual text.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think the best point to underline is that there isn't anything radically new within the strategic partnership agreement. These are long-standing commitments, high-level dialogues on various issues, that have existed and will continue. We are seeking to strengthen that within the agreement and to perhaps identify potential new areas.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's actually a very good question. The way we would conceive of the process is that if there were concerns on either side, they would be discussed. You're right. Resolution is for the international committees and councils to which we have made those commitments to resolve. What's very helpful in an agreement such as this is we are two like-minded entities, the EU and its 27 member states and Canada, and we share common values and principles.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's actually very interesting that you should raise this issue, because we're seeing some discomfort on the side of our EU colleagues. This is evolving even as we speak and ever since the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. That division of responsibilities and powers between the EU and member states is still being sorted out.

Foreign Affairs committee  You are right. There is sometimes a degree of confusion. They are very different. They are completely separate negotiations and separate agreements. The comprehensive cconomic and trade agreement, obviously, is on commercial matters related to trade and investment. The strategic partnership agreement is focused solely on political cooperation, most of that within international fora such as the UN, the G-8, or the G-20.

Foreign Affairs committee  In the Canadian position, there should be no linkage, because that has been carefully negotiated. There will be a separate dispute settlement mechanism for the CETA, which should be respected.