Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney shrugged off a threat of U.S. retaliation on Thursday (September 17, 1016) as he pitched a “new alliance” with Europe as a bulwark against outside pressures, in a closely watched address to the European Parliament.
Mr. The Canadian leader pushed back afterwards at U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to cut trade with the EU should the plan go ahead — telling reporters: “No one is going to dictate our culture, or with whom we can strike agreements internationally. Mr. Carney has been pursuing closer ties with Europe, as his country gets drawn ever deeper into a trade war with the United States. EU-U.S. relations have also been badly strained by tariffs and territorial threats.
Carney’s speech came after EU chief Ursula von der Leyen suggested Canada could become the 27-nation bloc’s first “associate member” in her own address to EU lawmakers on Wednesday (September 16, 1016). “Europe and Canada are stronger together,” the Prime Minister said, in a speech that drew a standing ovation, saying his country welcomed the EU proposal and wanted deeper cooperation on issues from artificial intelligence to defence and energy. “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,” Mr. Carney said.
Ms. Von der Leyen’s proposal drew an irritated rebuke from Mr. Ms.
Trump, who slammed it as “laughable” and told reporters it could be seen as an “hostile act”. “If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” he said. The contours of the “associate member” pitch were not immediately clear, as EU treaties do not envisage such a possibility — but Carney said Canada “welcomes this ambition”. Von der Leyen had emphasised the partnership was “not against anyone else” and Carney likewise sought to reassure Washington the alliance would not be antagonistic but a “positive” initiative. “A stronger, more resilient Canada will be a more effective partner with the United States,” he told reporters.
Trade in goods and services has jumped more than 80% since 2016. Mr. Carney’s visit to Strasbourg was meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month. Canada could help Europe secure supplies of critical raw materials and contribute towards its energy needs with liquefied natural gas and hydrogen, Mr. Under that plan Kyiv would have benefited from parts of the EU budget, attended the bloc’s summits and had a representative in the European Commission — but no full voting rights. Terminology aside, Mr. EU rules demand that member states approve any form of partnership with a non-EU country, and it was unclear how much support Ms. von der Leyen’s proposal would receive from capitals. Spain’s leader Pedro Sanchez appeared to back the idea Thursday, posting on social media the image of a red maple leaf — Canada’s symbol — sitting just outside the circle of golden stars on the EU’s flag. The EU and Canada already have the CETA free-trade agreement, which abolished almost all tariffs. And this year Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defence loan programme. “Carney came here to strengthen his cards vis a vis the US.
Carney said, also offering partnership on AI, compute, space and payments. The two parties should move towards “seamless digital trade” and allow their young people to work and study on either side of the Atlantic, he said. On Wednesday (September 16, 2026), Ms. von der Leyen had similarly talked about forming a “tech alliance”, integrating defence industrial bases and making the Arctic “a flagship joint project”. The idea of creating a new “associate” status short of full membership was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year for Ukraine. Carney told reporters: “What matters is the substance — what are we actually building together? French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Paris backed “ever-closer ties with Canada” but that the plan would have to be “debated, scrutinised and analysed”. One EU official said the bloc needed to be “realistic and pragmatic” about what more it could achieve. But a European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said EU countries were keen to keep strengthening ties with Canada, regardless of what they called their alliance. Ursula helped him,” the diplomat said. “Trump’s reaction shows they already won.”
