Carney Floats Canada as EU's First Associate Member in Strasbourg Address

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union's first associate member, using an address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to press for closer strategic, economic and people-to-people ties between Ottawa and Brussels.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament, Carney framed the relationship as one rooted in shared commitments rather than convenience. He said Canada and Europe were not "fair-weather allies" and did not pursue zero-sum deals, describing their common attachment to the rule of law, human dignity, individual freedom and democracy as sharing "the same deep roots."

He argued that geography was not what bound the two sides together, noting that Canada and Denmark share a 3,000-kilometre border in the Arctic. The relationship, he said, rested on an affinity that was "elective, chosen, renewed, and stronger for being so."

On the substance of cooperation, Carney called for the two sides to secure strategic autonomy through deep collaboration across a full range of capabilities, listing critical minerals, defence industrial capacity, artificial intelligence and compute, energy security, space and payments. He also urged movement towards seamless digital trade in non-agricultural goods and a wide range of services.

Highlighting Canada's resource base, he said the country holds deposits of more than 34 critical minerals and ranks among the top producers of the ten most essential for the energy transition. Canadian supply, he suggested, could help meet Europe's need for reliable sourcing while advancing Canada's own ambitions in advanced processing and the completion of value chains in both the transition and defence sectors. He added that Canada could contribute liquefied natural gas and hydrogen at large scale to support European energy security, including through new port infrastructure in Canada's high north and on its east coast.

Carney also pressed for stronger people-to-people links, envisaging youth able to work, study and live on either side of the Atlantic, and pointed to Canadian membership of the Erasmus Plus programme as a way to widen opportunities for students.

Addressing concerns about the intent behind the outreach, he said he was not proposing a third bloc designed to become a great-power rival "only with better manners." Canada, he said, does not seek power to dominate others, but is pursuing resilience so that no one can control its open markets, impair its sovereignty, threaten its territorial integrity, or undermine its freedoms, democracies and the rule of law.

The remarks were delivered during a session that included Carney posing for photographs with members of the European Parliament.