Report of the Committee on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications to the Joint Committee

November 15, 2021 (by videoconference)

Sixth Round of Negotiations on an Agreement between the EU and Canada on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications of Architects

The sixth round of negotiations took place via videoconference on 15 November 2021. The Parties were represented by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union (EU), and Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Architectural Licensing Authority (CALA) on behalf of Canada. Representatives of Canada’s Provincial and Territorial Governments attended as observers.

The Parties continued to make progress, reaching agreement on provisions addressing the relationship between the Decision and Chapters 12 (Domestic Regulation) and 29 (Dispute Settlement) of CETA.

The following elements of the text of the MRA were also discussed in further detail during the round:

• Proposals by the EU and Canada regarding how to reflect in the MRA text non-conforming measures reserved by certain Member States under CETA.
• The Canadian proposal to allow for supplementary non-discriminatory pre-registration courses, other than the general local knowledge course.
• Clarification about formal qualifications issued by a third party and recognized by a party.

The Parties committed to hold further technical discussions on 3 December before they meet again for a seventh round of negotiations scheduled on 17 December 2021.