Canada and EU link payment systems
Leaders from the European Union and Canada today unveiled the Alliance for the Future, a cross-Atlantic initiative focused on integrating their real-time payment networks.
The alliance was announced at the Canada-EU Summit in Montréal, Québec, on 30 October. It was signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Council president António Costa, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Over the next few months, talks will begin to link the two nations’ real-time payment networks, as confirmed by a statement from Canada’s Prime Minister’s office. The announcement states: ‘We will help connect Canada and the EU’s instant payment systems so Canadians can transfer funds to people and companies in the EU without interruption.’
Canada plans to implement the Real-Time Rail (RTR) instant payment platform, which is being constructed and operated by Payments Canada. In contrast, the Eurosystem uses the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) framework, developed by the European Central Bank (ECB).
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The partnership will establish a shared task force involving Canada and the EU to investigate expanding market access for each other’s banking institutions, insurance providers, and financial technology firms. No schedule for these activities has been revealed.
A new Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement has already been finalized, designed to simplify how Canadian enterprises can sell goods in European markets. This will involve modernizing existing digital commerce regulations and installing a fresh data cable between Canada and Europe to create a direct, protected channel for swift data transfers.
The Alliance for the Future additionally includes an improved student and professional mobility initiative, a $44 million agreement for military hardware supplies, and intentions to incorporate Canada into the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, among other measures.
