STRASBOURG, France — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed making Canada the European Union's first associate member, a striking overture as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs drive Ottawa closer to Europe.
Trump's tariffs and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Canada to seek closer economic and security ties with Europe. Roughly 70% of Canadian exports go to the United States, and Carney has called for a "unique alliance" with the EU as Canada seeks to reduce that dependence.
"I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada being the first associate member of the EU," von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during her annual State of the European Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Carney nodded, rose from his seat, embraced von der Leyen and kissed her on both cheeks as lawmakers gave a standing ovation. He is due to address the Parliament on Thursday.
A Canadian official familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press last week that Ottawa was exploring ties with the EU that could stop just short of membership. The official said Canada would seek an arrangement allowing its citizens to live and work in Europe without visas as part of a broader strategic partnership.
Carney's office welcomed von der Leyen's proposal, saying Canada was deepening ties with the EU "to strengthen our sovereignty" and supported a move beyond their existing free trade agreement, known as CETA, to what she called an "Alliance for the Future."
Von der Leyen said the broader alliance would aim to create "a common prosperity and economic security space."
She cast that closer relationship as rooted not just in trade but in shared democratic values.
"Above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy," von der Leyen said to Carney, who sat in the front row to her left.
"We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest, but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work."
Canada has already joined the EU's defense procurement program
Von der Leyen said the expanded partnership would cover advanced manufacturing, technology, defense production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and economic security.
"This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength," she said. "In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible."
However, she gave no details of how the associate membership would work or how it would fit with the other countries negotiating full membership of the bloc.
Canada this year became the first non-European country to join the EU's 150-billion-euro ($173-billion) SAFE defense program, giving Canadian companies access to joint procurement.
Iratxe García Pérez, president of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, praised Carney for showing "great courage confronting Donald Trump" and said allies were needed to defend "sovereignty, solidarity and international law."
Carney said Tuesday that economic integration, once viewed largely as an asset, is increasingly "being used as a weapon by certain countries." On Tuesday he said discussions would ramp up at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal in late October.
Carney has urged middle powers to work together
Canada has retaliated against U.S. tariffs and rejected trade terms Carney says would weaken its sovereignty.
The EU has taken a different course with Washington, reaching a trade agreement that set a 15% U.S. tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU exports while Europe eliminated tariffs on U.S. industrial goods.
That contrast has loomed over Carney's push for closer European ties. In a closely watched speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he urged middle powers to work together to increase their leverage in an era of great-power rivalry.
"When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered," Carney said.
"This is not sovereignty," he said. "It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination."
Carney's Davos speech on middle powers in January drew a personal rebuke from Trump, and von der Leyen's overture to America's neighbor could raise the temperature again.
Barry Andrews, chair of the European Parliament's Development Committee, called Canada "a perfect ally for Europe" and said closer ties could bring particular benefits for Ireland, noting that more than 10% of Canadians claim Irish ancestry.
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