‘Stronger together’: Carney welcomes EU invite for Canada to become first-ever associate member

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed the European Union's ambition to make Ottawa an associate member of the 27-nation bloc, saying a closer alliance between the two can help to shore up strategic autonomy on a range of capabilities.

His comments come shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump described the prospect of Canada becoming the first associate member of the EU as "laughable" and threatened the bloc with tariffs if he deemed the move to be a "hostile act."

Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, Trump called Canada a "terrible trade partner" and said the U.S. could even "stop trading with Europe on many things" if the EU moves ahead with its plan. "If it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe," Trump said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the 27-nation bloc wanted to bring the relationship with Canada "to the highest level possible."

Addressing Carney, who was in attendance for the EU chief's state of the union speech, Von der Leyen said she would like to work with him "on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union."

Associate membership doesn't currently exist as a formal category under EU treaties, and any such arrangement would need to be created and ratified by member states.

The EU has previously been reluctant to entertain the prospect of flexible membership categories, notably when earlier in the year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pushed for the EU to consider associate membership for Ukraine.

Nonetheless, Von der Leyen's backing for Canada to receive associate membership with the EU signals a major deepening of ties between Ottawa and Brussels and comes at a time when Canada is locked in a bitter trade war with the U.S.

The Trump administration recently increased tariffs on Canadian goods, prompting Canada to respond with levies of its own. Carney has pledged to impose reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods dollar for dollar.

The EU and Canada already have a free trade agreement, one that eliminated 99% of all tariff lines when it provisionally came into force in 2017. The pact is known as the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA.

"We will move from CETA to an alliance for the future, to create a common prosperity and economic security space," Von der Leyen said.

She added that the EU and Canada "see the world with the same eyes" and pledged to work together on issues such as artificial intelligence, climate change, geopolitics and Arctic security.

Before returning to Strasbourg to address EU lawmakers on Thursday, Carney met with U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday to watch soccer club Everton play in Liverpool, England.

The two leaders emphasized the importance of building similar close ties with European partners, particularly on issues such as trade and defense, Downing Street said in a statement.

Carney and Burnham also discussed deepening defense cooperation, including the complementary roles of the Multilateral Defence Mechanism and the Canada-led Defence Security Resilience Bank.