Perspectives croisées sur la coopération transatlantique :
Analyse à partir des politiques canadiennes et européennes’
The collective book ‘Perspectives croisées sur la coopération transatlantique : Analyse à partir des politiques canadiennes et européennes’, edited by Prof. Chloé Brière, Dr. Louise Fromont and Areg Navasartian, affiliated researchers to the IEE was launched on December 5, 2022, at the Institut d’études européennes of the ULB.
This book is a follow-up to the two conferences organised in June 2020 and March 2021 on the subject of the cooperation between Canada, the European Union and its Member States, in the framework of CETA and beyond. With the participation of renowned experts on these issues, the present event aims to take stock of the state of this transatlantic cooperation and to evoke future avenues for discussion and research.
The event, co-organised by the Institut d’études européennes of the ULB, the AmericaS Centre and the European Law Centre of the Université libre de Bruxelles, brought together His Excellency Alain Gendron, Canadian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, the editors (Prof. Chloé Brière, Dr. Louise Fromont and Areg Navasartian), Prof. Serge Jaumain (ULB, President of the AmericaS Centre) and Dr. Laurence Marquis (University of Sherbrooke, lawyer at the Quebec Bar) who participated as speakers.
For Mr. Gendron, “this book is timely, as international trade and its economic and social consequences continue to fuel the often passionate debates that allow us to grow together and shape the future. One of the merits of this publication is that it offers a cross-section of leading academics and researchers on the Global Economic and Trade Agreement, the number and range of disciplines covered illustrating the complexity of the issue”.
The editors explain that this multi-disciplinary book brings together a dozen contributions written by Canadian and European researchers who address many of the issues raised by transatlantic cooperation as it has unfolded since the conclusion and provisional entry into force of CETA.
“The main thread of this book revolves around two cross-cutting issues. On the one hand, it examines whether CETA, which is an ambitious agreement in its own right, can be seen as a model for future agreements that the EU and/or Canada may conclude with their respective partners, or even as a model for so-called ‘new generation’ multilateral agreements. On the other hand, the book seeks to determine whether the EU-Canada dynamic is confined to their bilateral relationship or whether it is intended to be replicated outside the framework of the agreement, notably in multilateral fora”.
Academic conferences
In September 2022, the European Union and Canada celebrated the fifth anniversary of the provisional entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). This free trade agreement goes beyond mere trade relations, further solidifying a close relationship between two longstanding strategic partners. CETA and, more broadly, transatlantic cooperation between Canada, the European Union and its Member States are of particular interest to researchers, both in terms of the bilateral relations developed and because of their international implications.
The IEE has contributed to multidisciplinary academic debates on these topics through the organisation of two events, with the support of the Canadian Embassy to Belgium and Luxembourg. The first, in June 2020, focused on the assessment of CETA, its achievements, its problems and the international context in which its implementation takes place. The second event, in March 2021, focused on transatlantic cooperation beyond CETA, as the Covid-19 crisis demonstrated the necessity of extending this cooperation. On both occasions, Canadian and European experts, practitioners and researchers exchanged views on the different facets of cooperation between Canada, the EU and its Member States.
The book
These discussions resulted in the collective work Perspectives croisées sur la coopération transatlantique : Analyse à partir des politiques canadiennes et européennes, published in August 2022 in the European Studies collection of Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles. It is also available in open access. The multidisciplinary book contains a dozen contributions by Canadian and European researchers grouped around three cross-cutting themes: the exploration of the bilateral relationship between Canada and the EU; CETA as a model for European external action at the bilateral and multilateral levels; and transatlantic cooperation as a starting point for joint action and reflection on the international scene.
