Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will determine its own international partnerships as Ottawa explores a significantly deeper relationship with the European Union, pushing back against criticism and tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking to European Union lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday, Carney welcomed efforts to strengthen Canada-EU ties, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to explore making Canada the bloc’s first associate member. Carney said any final arrangement would be subject to debate and a vote in the Canadian Parliament.
“Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together,” Carney told lawmakers. Without mentioning Trump by name during his speech, the prime minister warned that economic relationships were increasingly being used as instruments of pressure, pointing to tariffs, financial mechanisms and vulnerabilities in global supply chains.
His comments came after Trump dismissed the prospect of Canada becoming an associate member of the EU as “laughable” and warned that Washington could impose heavy tariffs on Europe if it considered the initiative hostile to U.S. interests. Trump also described Canada as a “terrible trade partner” amid continuing trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa.
Carney later responded directly to the U.S. president, describing closer cooperation with Europe as a positive development that would make Canada stronger and more resilient. He stressed that Canadians would determine their country’s cultural, linguistic and foreign-policy choices, including which countries and blocs Canada chooses to negotiate agreements with.
The proposed associate membership would represent a new arrangement for the European Union. No formal associate-member category currently exists under EU treaties, meaning such a framework would have to be developed and ultimately ratified by EU member states. Von der Leyen said Wednesday that she wanted to elevate Canada’s relationship with the EU “to the highest level possible” and open discussions on Canada becoming its first associate member.
Carney emphasized that discussions remain at an early stage. He said Parliament would have opportunities to debate the evolving Canada-EU relationship and would ultimately vote on any final framework, describing the current discussions as only “the start of a road.”
Canada and the EU already have extensive economic ties through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, which provisionally took effect in 2017. Von der Leyen said the two sides now want to move beyond CETA toward a broader alliance focused on prosperity and economic security, with cooperation spanning artificial intelligence, climate policy, geopolitics and Arctic security.
Carney also framed closer Canada-EU cooperation as a way to strengthen democratic resilience rather than create a competing global power bloc. He said Canada was seeking greater resilience to protect open markets, sovereignty, territorial integrity, democratic institutions and the rule of law.
