Carney welcomes EU invite for Canada to become first associate member

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed the European Union’s ambition to make Ottawa an associate member of the 27-nation bloc and said Canadian lawmakers would ultimately vote on the final structure of the alliance.

“Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together,” Carney told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.

Canada’s prime minister did not name President Donald Trump in his speech, but he nodded to his U.S. counterpart’s use of tariffs by saying: “Economic integration is now being weaponized — tariffs being used to exert pressure.”

Speaking in French, Carney continued: “Financial mechanisms have been used for coercion. Supply chains constitute weak points to be exploited.”

His comments come shortly after Trump described the prospect of Canada becoming the first associate member of the EU as “laughable” and threatened the bloc with tariffs if he deemed the move to be a “hostile act.”

Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, Trump called Canada a “terrible trade partner” and said the U.S. could even “stop trading with Europe on many things” if the EU moves ahead with its plan. “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” Trump said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the 27-nation bloc wanted to bring the relationship with Canada “to the highest level possible.”

Addressing Carney, who was in attendance for the EU chief’s state of the union speech, Von der Leyen said she would like to work with him “on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union.”

Associate membership doesn’t currently exist as a formal category under EU treaties, and any such arrangement would need to be created and ratified by member states.

When asked in a news conference whether Canadian lawmakers would be able to debate and vote on the future relationship between Canada and the EU, Carney said: “Of course, there will be debates, plural, not just a single debate, and there will be a vote in the Canadian parliament. Absolutely, that is clear, but at this particular juncture, we are at the start of a road.”

Carney also sought to make clear that a closer relationship between the EU and Canada would bolster collective resilience and “create a beacon” for other democracies.

“Now, I also want to be precise about what I am not proposing, I’m not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great power rival, only with better manners,” Carney said.

“We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so no one, no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty,…