Carney welcomes EU's 'associate member' plan, while Trump lashes out

STRASBOURG, FRANCE — Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the European Unions’ invitation to become its first ever “associate member,” and pitched it as deepening ties between two allies who face threats of retaliation from U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Thursday morning, Carney delivered a speech to hundreds of members of European Parliament (MEP) as well as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

The prime minister confirmed Canada’s interest in becoming the first ever “associate member” of the union, an invitation extended the previous day by von der Leyen.

While what that means remains to be seen, Carney used his speech to pitch Canada as a natural ally for the block of 27 European countries in the face of international upheaval — a “tremendous storm,” in his words — and the creation of the next world order.

He sold Canada as a reliable partner in the face of increasing trade violence and volatility by U.S. President Donald Trump. To hundreds of European lawmakers, he proposed Canadian energy and critical minerals in exchange for knocking down trade and travel barriers as well as deeper integration on tech, defence and artificial intelligence.

The speech came on the heels of new tit-for-tat tariffs between Canada and the U.S. after trade negotiations between both countries once again failed to deliver a new deal.

On Thursday, the prime minister set out to make it clear to Trump that the budding partnership with the E.U. was not intended as a hostile effort to supplant the U.S., a fear expressed by the American president Wednesday evening that came with a threat of significant trade retaliation.

“I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival, only with better manners,” Carney said. Dozens of EU parliamentarians laughed and clapped in response.

“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, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”

Already close, Canada and the European Union should cooperate even more to build up their defence industrial bases, develop sovereign compute but also regulate artificial intelligence, and make it easier for students to move between them, Carney argued.

“We are not fair-weather allies. We do not pursue zero-sum deals,” he told hundreds of European lawmakers. “Our commitment to the rule of law and our unyielding defence of human dignity, individual freedom, and democracy share the same deep roots, the same unwavering dedication.”

Canada has loads of energy, including natural gas and hydrogen, and critical minerals that Europe will need for decades, he argued. On the flip side, Canada can contribute to Europe’s military procurement and development and would like to pool “sovereign compute power” to break away from foreign tech giant dependence.