Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed a proposal for his country to become the European Union's first "associate member", shrugging off threats from United States President Donald Trump.
Canada and the 27-nation European Union are seeking to take ties to a new level in the face of aggression from Trump – who reinforced their concerns by menacing tariffs.
Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Carney said Canada "welcomes" the ambition expressed by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to make the country an associate member.
"We are not fair-weather allies. We do not pursue zero-sum deals. We hold common values for which we have always fought, and in whose defence we must always remain vigilant," Carney said to applause from European lawmakers.
"Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together."
Both the EU and Canada have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the US, as well as competition from China.
Trump called von der Leyen's unprecedented offer "laughable" on Wednesday, telling reporters he could impose "very serious tariffs" or "stop trading with Europe" should the plan go ahead.
Carney rejected these threats, saying: "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 insisted that an EU-Canada alliance aimed to be a "beacon for democracies".
Pursuit of resilience
"I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival, only with better manners," he continued.
"We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing 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."
Carney, who was elected in April 2025, listed a raft of areas where he wanted to ramp up cooperation.
"Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals, defence industrial capacity, AI and computing, energy security, space and payments."
He also said the EU and Canada should move towards "seamless digital trade" and allow young people to work and study on either side of the Atlantic.
This year, Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defence loan programme. Von der Leyen has also proposed that Canada join the future European Security Council, which would bring together the EU and partners including the United Kingdom, Norway and Ukraine.
Under EU rules, member states have to approve any form of partnership with a third country, and it was unclear how much support von der Leyen's proposal would receive from capitals.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Paris was in favour of "creating ever-closer ties with Canada", but that the plan would be "debated, scrutinised and analysed" before France took a definitive position.
(with newswires)
