Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne suggested at a meeting with the European Competition Commissioner that Canada would like to work more closely with Margrethe Vestager on setting autonomous-vehicle standards. In a press conference Friday, he said that AVs were one of the meeting’s main topics, and he told her he’d be “very interested” in adopting a similar approach to Europe. (The Logic)

Talking point: Vestager has been one of the world’s most powerful watchdogs on Big Tech. But countries like the Netherlands and Finland are also among the top jurisdictions in the world that have prepared for AVs’ effects on safety, privacy, digital infrastructure, transport systems and cross-border travel, according to KPMG. Champagne, who has been wooing automakers on his trip to Germany and Belgium, said “​​what’s going to define the type of technology you’ll find in these cars is standards and norms. And what I was saying to my European colleagues…is that we need to lead the world in setting [them].” He said that Canadian auto companies like Linamar and Magna are examples of what he’d like to show off to Vestager in a potential future visit.