{"id":917406,"date":"2026-10-02T04:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917406\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T04:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:32:15","slug":"canada-eu-plan-to-link-next-gen-payment-systems-easing-transactions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917406\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada, EU plan to link next-gen payment systems, easing transactions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada and the EU are working to modernize the electronic systems that their businesses and people use to move money.Omar Havana\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Canada and the European Union<\/a> plan to link next-generation payment systems to enable faster cross-border transactions, according to a draft joint statement prepared for a summit between Ottawa and Brussels later this month.<\/p>\n

This will help remove obstacles to business and investment between the two jurisdictions, according to the statement, an early version of a summit communiqu\u00e9 that was viewed by The Globe and Mail. It adds that the new partnership will be called an \u201cAlliance for the Future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The draft statement doesn\u2019t detail what next-generation payment systems include, but this term has been used by others to refer to a major upgrade of a country\u2019s core payment infrastructure, usually built around real-time payments. The core infrastructure is a central set of systems that clear and settle payments between financial institutions. <\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s bet on European trade faces plenty of hurdles<\/a><\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s Office declined to offer any response to the draft joint statement, saying it would not comment on leaked documents.<\/p>\n

Canada and the EU are working to modernize the electronic systems that their businesses and people use to move money from place to place. <\/p>\n

Both have identified the United States\u2019s sway over the current generation of payment systems as a risk, given that Washington has grown increasingly unpredictable and protectionist under President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> identified a country\u2019s control over payment systems as a feature of modern sovereignty. In an address to the European Parliament on Sept. 17, he said Canada and Europe should \u201csecure our strategic autonomy\u201d through co-operation in strategic capabilities including \u201ccritical minerals, defence industrial capacity, AI and compute, energy security, space, and payments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney is welcoming EU officials in Montreal at the end of October to begin to define a new relationship with Brussels \u2013 one that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said could make Canada an \u201cassociate member\u201d of the 27-country bloc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept 17.Pascal Bastien\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

The draft of the coming summit\u2019s joint statement, dated Sept. 21, says Canada and the EU will commit to stitching together payment systems. It is a work in progress of the text that the two sides are planning to release at the Montreal event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will also work toward connecting next-generation payment systems to facilitate faster, lower-cost and more seamless cross-border transactions, making it easier for Canadians and Europeans to conduct business, invest and transfer funds internationally,\u201d the statement says. \u201cThese efforts will help mobilize capital for strategic sectors and support long-term economic growth and competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S.\u2019s power over international payments was demonstrated in 2025 when Mr. Trump imposed sanctions on Winnipeg-born International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost over her work on a case involving American troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. sanctions left Ms. Prost unable to use most credit cards or multinational services such as Amazon or airlines.<\/p>\n

Opinion: \u2018Associate member\u2019 of the EU? Why not, Canada?<\/a><\/p>\n

Vass Bednar, managing director of the Canadian Shield Institute think tank, pointed out that several major European digital payment networks and wallet providers, including Bizum, Bancomat and Wero, are joining forces to create a cross-border payments network that would challenge the U.S. dominance of payment systems. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re serious about digital sovereignty, we should expect stronger positioning on alternative payment infrastructure from the government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said he sees linking payment systems between Canada and Europe as a defensive step, providing \u201can alternative option, or almost a possible shield in case the payments system comes under duress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The draft Canada-EU statement maps out future co-operation including the joint purchase of 50 water bombers to fight forest fires in Canada and on the continent. It says the aircraft would be purchased from De Havilland and enter into service starting in 2030.<\/p>\n

The pact also commits Ottawa and Brussels to study where they might add new subsea cables between Europe and Canada and Asia \u201cto enhance digital links.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr. Carney, speaking to The New York Times earlier this month, said he sees more opportunity for Canadian economic gains in Europe than in China. \u201cIf you look at revealed comparative advantage in Canada, where we can grow our economy and grow our exports, it is our biggest opportunity. Greater penetration of Europe is a bigger opportunity for Canada than China is,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Opinion: Carney\u2019s beautiful Euro vision must meet harsh reality<\/a><\/p>\n

The Editorial Board: Stronger ties with the European Union aren\u2019t a lifeline for Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

The draft statement shows that Canada and the EU plan to announce that they\u2019ve completed a Digital Trade Agreement \u201cto allow for faster, lower-cost secure digital trade and transactions\u201d and that they plan deeper co-operation on critical minerals.<\/p>\n

It says Ottawa and Brussels plan to announce that Canada and the European Investment Bank have \u201ccompleted negotiations of an agreement that will facilitate European Investment in critical Canadian resources, in particular, critical minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The capitals also plan to announce a deal between competition watchdogs in the EU and Canada \u201cto effectively address anti-competitive conduct\u201d as well as the launch of negotiations \u201ctoward a framework\u201d for Canada to participate in the European Union\u2019s Galileo space program.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Canada-EU draft statement says they plan a \u201clong-term feasibility study on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports to Europe\u201d from Canada.<\/p>\n

And, it says, Canada and the EU will launch negotiations toward participation in Erasmus+, the EU\u2019s flagship education and mobility program that enables students to study at universities in the bloc.<\/p>\n

With reports from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada and the EU are working to modernize the electronic systems that their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":["post-917406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}