Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed the European Union's ambition for Canada to become its first "associate member", calling for closer cooperation on defence, critical minerals and energy security. Carney told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday that Canada and Europe were "stronger together" in the face of "geopolitical rupture". His comments came a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed "opening the door" to Canada's associate membership, a status that does not currently exist.
US President Donald Trump earlier called the idea "laughable" and threatened "very serious tariffs" on Europe if he considered it a "hostile act". Canada and the US are locked in an escalating trade dispute, with each side imposing tit-for-tat tariffs after bilateral talks collapsed last month. "Today our societies are being battered by new storms," Carney said during his address, naming them as climate change, "the erosion of democratic norms" and the "weaponisation of trade".
"Economic integration is now being weaponised, tariffs being used to exert pressure," he said. "Financial mechanisms have been used for coercion. Supply chains constitute weak points to be exploited." He said a Canada-EU alliance would create a "beacon for other democracies", while stressing the two sides were not seeking to form a new power bloc.
"I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival - only with better manners," he told MEPs. "This is about sovereignty, our ability to live as we wish. We do not seek power to dominate others." Asked about the proposal on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: "If I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.
"If it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility." Responding to Trump's comments at a press conference following his address, Carney said: "This alliance is a positive process, that's my response to the American president." "Canadians are united that nobody is going to tell us what language we speak, no-one is going to dictate our culture, or with whom we can strike agreements internationally," he added. Carney said Canada was "not in a position, nor seeking, to become a full member of the European Union", describing the proposal as a "different framework".
What could EU associate member status mean for Canada? Carney's new love-in with EU has everything to do with Trump EU chief backs plan for Canada to become 'associate member' Speaking at the European Parliament on Wednesday, von der Leyen said she wanted Canada to become the EU's first associate member, with closer cooperation in areas such as manufacturing, technology, defence, energy critical minerals and economic security. It is unclear exactly what that relationship would look like because the "associate member" status does not currently exist within the EU and could take years to implement.
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