EU and Canada plan to link real-time payment systems
The European Union and Canada have committed to connect their real-time payment systems and to explore ways to open up their markets to each other’s banks and fintechs. The commitments are part of a wider ‘Alliance for the Future’ between the EU and Canada.
According to the press release, over the coming months, Canada and the EU will negotiate:
. Faster payment systems. We will support connecting Canada and the EU’s instant payment systems to enable Canadians to send money to people and businesses in the EU seamlessly.
. More choice in banking and insurance. Canada and the EU will launch a Joint Working Group to explore opening their markets further to each other’s banks, insurers, and fintech companies.
To create more opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs, today Canada and the EU announced that we will make it simpler for Canadian businesses to sell online across Europe. “We concluded a new Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement that will make it easier for Canadian businesses to sell goods and services online across Europe by updating digital trade rules and making cross-border transactions simpler.”
Also, over the coming months, Canada and the EU will study how best to connect Canada and Europe through secure digital infrastructure. “We are taking the first steps toward a new transatlantic data cable that would give Canada and Europe a direct, secure route for rapid data exchange – reducing reliance on a single provider.” – stated the release.
“We have concluded negotiations on the Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement, Canada’s first agreement dedicated entirely to digital trade. It reduces friction in trade conducted online between Canada and the EU, giving businesses more certainty when they use electronic signatures to sign e-contracts, are selling software and digital products, or moving data across borders for commercial purposes, while ensuring that each side can continue to regulate in the public interest. Canadian businesses already exported nearly $15 billion in digitally deliverable services to the EU in 2024, and with this agreement, our digital sector of roughly 800,000 workers is ready to secure billions more in opportunities in the world’s largest importer of digital services.” – said The Hon. Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade.
