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Between 2000 and 2007, EU27 exports of goods to Canada grew from 21.1 billion euro to 25.9 bn, while EU27 imports from Canada rose from 19.0 bn to 23.3 bn. As a result the EU27 surplus in trade with Canada increased slightly from 2.1 bn in 2000 to 2.6 bn in 2007. The share of Canada in the EU27's total external trade in goods has fallen between 2000 and 2007. In 2007, Canada accounted for 2.1% of EU27 exports and 1.6% of EU27 imports, and was the EU27's eleventh most important trading partner.

The European Commission adopted a proposal to modify the directive on working time in road transport. The new proposal aims to ensure that the existing working time rules apply to all employed professional drivers, including false self-employed workers.

The European Union and countries of the Caribbean region have signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which will strengthen ties between the two regions and promote regional integration in the Caribbean. The EPA is the first genuinely comprehensive North-South trade and development agreement in the global economy. It includes a package of measures to stimulate trade, investment and innovation, and to promote sustainable development, build a regional market among Caribbean countries and help eliminate poverty.

At the fifth meeting of the High Level Group (HLG) on Nuclear Safety and Waste Management, Andris Piebalgs, Energy Commissioner highlighted the need for a higher level of nuclear safety.

The Commission decided to reduce administrative demands on national telecoms regulators when submitting draft regulatory measures to the Commission. Since 2003, the Commission has reviewed more than 800 national regulators' decisions to break traditional telecoms monopolies and open up networks for competitors. Now the Commission adopted a new Recommendation on procedural rules for the EU-wide consultation mechanism, also known as "the Article 7 procedure", that allows national regulators to use a simplified and shortened standard form to notify the Commission of certain decisions. This will considerably simplify and speed up the EU consultation mechanism.

The European Commission has put forward a revision of EU rules on deposit guarantee schemes that puts into action the commitments made by EU Finance Ministers on 7 October. The new rules are designed to improve depositor protection and to maintain the confidence of depositors in the financial safety net. Under the new rules, the minimum level of coverage for deposits will be increased within one year from €20,000 to €100,000, and initially to €50,000 in the intervening period.

The European Commission has put forward a proposal modifying the provisions and extending the scope of the 2001 Regulation on cross-border euro payments, under which cross-border bank transfers in euro within the EU cost the same as domestic transfers.

R&D investment by EU companies has increased by 8.8% compared to the increased R&D investment by US companies of 8.6%, according to the 2008 edition of the European Commission's annual Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard.

The European Commission adopted a Green Paper to open the debate on how to help European farmers make the most of the quality of the food and drinks they produce. As globalisation spreads, pressure increases from low cost products from overseas and consumer demands evolve, Europe's most potent weapon is "quality".