The European Union and Canada agreed to cooperate more closely in the fight against international terrorism

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is current EU president, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso held talks via a video link between London, Brussels and Ottawa, officials said.

They agreed closer cooperation on crisis management, between Europol, the EU police agency and Canadian police and on the processing of airline passenger records, according to a statement released by Blair's Downing Street office.

Before next week's U.N. climate change conference in Montreal, they pledged "to work together to develop new low-carbon technologies."

With the World Trade Organization summit in Hong Kong just three weeks away, the talks also focussed on global trade. The joint statement called for significant progress to be made, the AP reports. They agreed to intensify dialogue on allowing visa free travel between EU member states and Canada.

A.M.