In celebration of the 40^th anniversary of the European Union delegation in Canada, four events have been planned for the year 2016.

The first, held on April 28, was the 3rd Common Security and Defence Policy Symposium (CSDP), under the theme ” EU – Canada: Strategic Partners in a Multilateral Security Environment”. For a third consecutive year, OPC was in charge of the logistics of this conference day, this time in collaboration with IBF, a Belgian firm of international consultants.

Once more, the CSDP Symposium brought together nearly 200 participants from the Canadian and European governmental, political and military spheres in the heart of the John G. Diefenbaker building, the headquarters of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada in Ottawa.

Soon after this event, OPC was again at the helm of a conference day within the framework of the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), with “The EU and Canada as Strategic Partners: Towards a New Generation Relationship” as the theme for the talks. This last event was held at the National Gallery of Canada on May 9, 2016. More than 150 participants attended the panels and conferences, and nearly 500 guests gathered in the evening at a cocktail dinner to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the delegation in the presence of the Hon. Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador of the European Union in Canada, H. E. Marie-Anne Coninsx.  A red carpet, boulevard of the member states of the E.U., dance performance and symphony orchestra were all put to contribution in order to honour this important anniversary.

The OPC team will again have the pleasure of working with the delegation in the organization of two more conference days that are scheduled in autumn 2016.

For more information and pictures from these events: http://eucanada40.ca/