STRASBOURG, France — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged European lawmakers on Thursday, September 17, 2026, to build a broader alliance spanning trade, defence, energy, and technology, despite a new tariff warning from President Donald Trump.
Carney said closer relations between Canada and the European Union were intended to protect open markets, national sovereignty, and democratic institutions, rather than establish another centre of global power.
“I’m not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great power rival, only with better manners,” Carney told the European Parliament.
His address came one day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the European Union’s first “associate member,” an undefined status that would place the country in a relationship with the bloc unlike that of any existing non-European partner.
Trump Threatens European Tariffs
Trump responded to the proposal by warning that the United States could impose heavy tariffs on the European Union if he concluded that a new arrangement with Canada amounted to a hostile act.
The warning introduced another source of tension into Canada’s deteriorating commercial relationship with its largest trading partner.
Ottawa and Washington are already engaged in a trade dispute, while Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become the 51st American state.
Carney has firmly rejected that proposal and sought to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States by expanding relationships with other democratic economies.
Without naming Trump during parts of his speech, Carney warned about the weaponisation of trade, the weakening of democratic standards, and threats to national sovereignty.
He said Canada and Europe should cooperate to withstand what he called “new storms,” which also included climate change.
Von der Leyen said the proposed partnership was intended to strengthen Canada and Europe rather than confront another country.
She presented the idea during her State of the Union address in Strasbourg, where Carney appeared as a guest and received a standing ovation from lawmakers.
An Undefined Form of Membership
The European Union does not currently have a formal category known as associate membership, and neither side has presented detailed legal terms for the proposed relationship.
Tinatin Akhvlediani, who leads work on European Union enlargement at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, told CNN that countries can sign association agreements with the bloc, but associate membership itself does not exist under its present structure.
Full European Union membership is not a likely route for Canada.
Candidates must be geographically European, satisfy the bloc’s political, economic, and legal requirements, and secure unanimous approval from all 27 member countries.
Several European nations, including Norway and Switzerland, maintain extensive commercial and mobility arrangements with the union without becoming members.
Canada’s proposed status, however, would be designed for a country outside Europe and could involve a broader combination of trade, security, industrial, and technological cooperation.
Germany has questioned whether associate membership is the appropriate term, although its government has expressed willingness to consider new forms of partnership with Canada.
Any substantial agreement would also require support from European Union governments, some of which have not yet publicly endorsed von der Leyen’s proposal.
Trade, Energy, and Technology
European and Canadian officials have discussed reducing trade barriers, expanding energy connections, developing artificial intelligence infrastructure, and increasing cooperation on critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, cyber security, and defence.
Other reported proposals include constructing underwater cables between Canada and Europe, redirecting pipelines to supply Canadian gas to European markets, and considering broader rights for Canadians to live and work in Europe.
The two sides already have a significant economic relationship. Bilateral trade in goods and services reached €130.8 billion last year, an increase of more than 80 per cent over a decade.
European exports to Canada include vehicles, machinery, and pharmaceutical products. Canada supplies Europe with crude oil, fertiliser, critical minerals, and base metals.
Much of that commerce operates under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, large portions of which took effect provisionally in 2017.
The agreement has not been fully ratified by 10 European Union countries, including France, Italy, and Poland.
Carney has described the emerging relationship as a “unique alliance.”
Earlier this year, he argued at the World Economic Forum in Davos that middle powers should work together as established international alliances and trading relationships come under greater pressure.
Canadians Support Closer Cooperation
Carney’s European initiative has received substantial support in Canada, although the prospect of formal membership remains divisive.
An Abacus Data survey conducted in September found that about 80 per cent of Canadians supported greater cooperation with Europe on foreign policy, defence, and economic priorities.
The survey found that 56 per cent believed Canada had more in common with European Union countries than with the United States.
Support for Canada joining the bloc stood at 49 per cent and was stronger among centrist and left-leaning respondents.
Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party, has rejected both American statehood and European Union membership.
He described Carney’s European strategy as disconnected from Canada’s interests and said the country should become neither the 51st American state nor the European Union’s 28th member.
Carney, however, presented the emerging partnership as a way for Canada and Europe to preserve their independence amid economic and political pressure from larger powers.
The proposal remains at an early stage.
Its importance will ultimately depend on whether Canada and the European Union can turn a politically striking new title into enforceable agreements covering commerce, security, technology, and movement between their territories.
