Carney Backs Closer Canada-EU Alliance

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed a proposal for Canada to become the European Union’s first “associate member”. Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday, Carney said: “Europe and Canada are each strong. Europe and Canada are even stronger together.”

Carney stressed that the closer partnership was not intended to create another geopolitical power bloc. “I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival – only with better manners”, he said. Instead, Canada and Europe were seeking greater resilience “so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law”.

Ottawa wants to deepen cooperation with the EU in areas including critical minerals, the defense industry, artificial intelligence, energy security, space, payments and digital trade. The two sides are also discussing major infrastructure projects, including undersea cables, data centers, cloud infrastructure and satellite networks.

US President Donald Trump had previously described European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal as “laughable” and warned that he could impose further tariffs on Europe if he regarded the initiative as a hostile act.

The European Commission denied that the initiative was directed against any other country, saying the proposed strengthening of ties with Canada was “not against anyone else, but for our common strength”.

The proposed “associate membership” has no existing precedent under EU law and its precise form has yet to be determined.

(Reuters, bak)