How EU leaders are reacting to Canada associate membership proposal

Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the "ambition" of European Council President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to invite Canada to be the European Union's first ever "associate member," and he wasn't the only one reacting.

Leaders, heads of state and officials from across the EU are continuing to react to the proposal for closer ties with Canada.

Spanish President Pedro Sanchez posted the EU flag – 12 golden stars on a field of blue – on his social media account on Thursday, with one notable addition. The flag had a bright red Canadian maple leaf on the left-hand side.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola welcomed Canada's "leadership" in helping build "the next chapter" in the relationship.

"The world is changing. Side by side, we can build what comes next," Metsola said, calling Canada and the EU "allies and friends."

Aside from critical minerals, energy and defence equipment, one of Canada's most famous exports was also brough up on the floor of the European Parliament on Wednesday – the TV show Heated Rivalry.

"You have green hydrogen to keep us warm, you have maple syrup to keep us happy and Heated Rivalry to keep us entertained," German MEP Damian Boeselager said.

"You have poutine, the Mounties, Celine Dion, and Leonard Cohen, and of course, almost every famous Ryan or Justin I can think of," he added.

Boeselager joked that Canada and the EU were formalizing their "long-distance relationship" and added that Canada would never be the 51st state, a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated threats to annex Canada.

"Long live Lake Ontario," he said in another dig at Trump, who signed an executive order — which has no authority on the rest of the world — that the U.S. will be calling the body of water "Lake America."

"We recently had a bad breakup with the Brits and you seem to be going through a rough patch with the U.S., so clearly we are both open for something new," he added.

Terry Reintke, co-president of the Green Party in the European Parliament, wore a Team Canada hockey jersey to the floor while Carney was addressing members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

She later posted a picture with Carney while she was wearing the jersey with the caption, "WELCOME BIENVENUE CANADA."

German MEP Brend Lange proposed "Swiss-style economic integration" between Canada and the bloc.

"Swiss-style economic integration model could be possible but it should politically go further," Lange said in a statement after a meeting with Carney.

Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but has partial access to the European single market as a result of free trade agreements.

However, Lange proposed that Canada should participate in EU consultations, including having observers in the European Parliament.

"We need real involvement not just another summit," he said.

In her speech, von der Leyen said Canada and the EU have already increased their volume of trade by 75 per cent in less than a decade since the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed.

While the trade deal has been provisionally implemented, it isn't yet fully ratified as some European Union member states still need to ratify the agreement in their individual legislatures.

Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Slovenia are the states that haven't yet ratified CETA.

Irish MEP Regina Doherty called on her government to ratify the agreement.

"In an increasingly uncertain world, Europe cannot stand still while others make the decisions. Building closer ties with Canada is exactly the right approach. Ireland should play its part and finally ratify CETA now," she said.

While von der Leyen said the EU's deepening relationship with Canada was "not against anyone else," Czech MEP Tomas Zdechovsky took several digs at Trump, referring to him as a "bull in a china shop."

Zdechovsky posted several AI-generated images welcoming Canada into a deeper alliance, including one image of an angry-looking Trump surrounded by people waving EU and Canadian flags.

"Trump is angry. Europe and Canada are laughing. Works for me," he said in a social media post.