cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11727107
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Canada and the EU are working to modernize the electronic systems that their businesses and people use to move money from place to place.
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The draft of the coming [October] summit’s 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.
“We 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,” the statement says. “These efforts will help mobilize capital for strategic sectors and support long-term economic growth and competitiveness.”
The U.S.’s 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.
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The draft statement shows that Canada and the EU plan to announce that they’ve completed a Digital Trade Agreement “to allow for faster, lower-cost secure digital trade and transactions” and that they plan deeper co-operation on critical minerals.
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The capitals also plan to announce a deal between competition watchdogs in the EU and Canada “to effectively address anti-competitive conduct” as well as the launch of negotiations “toward a framework” for Canada to participate in the European Union’s Galileo space program.
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In addition, the Canada-EU draft statement says they plan a “long-term feasibility study on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports to Europe” from Canada.
And, it says, Canada and the EU will launch negotiations toward participation in Erasmus+, the EU’s flagship education and mobility program that enables students to study at universities in the bloc.
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The U.S.’s 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.
Don’t worry, I’m sure the one we come up with will allow exactly the same thing or worse, but “we’ll” be the ones deciding who to blacklist 😛
That is unironically an improvement.
Absolutely it is, today. But maybe not in the future, and maybe not even that far into the future. As much as people love to trot out the “US has always been bad” line, in 2008 no one in Canada or Europe was worried about US financial control.
It just takes one bad election in Canada, France, or especially Germany, for an EU-linked payment network to oopsie poopsie become just as bad if the technical capability for bad is included.
Then we deal with that then. Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.
Can we just get credit cards that are not American?
Visa and Mastercard etc are essentially middlemen, huge corporations providing the intermediary step between your bank account, and someone elses bank account. If I have understood what the EU is trying to do, it’s not to have our own huge corporation middleman, but to make the direct connection between you and someone else possible, without the huge corporation, across the EU and instantaneous. Maybe there will be plastic cards, maybe not, that part is just authentication.
Yes, they are a huge middleman that take a 3-5% cut of every transaction.
I much rather pay with money I have then have debt. Girocard exists and is a debit card.
