EU chief opens the door for Canada to become an 'associate member'

Von der Leyen backs an associate status for Canada

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has backed proposals for Canada to become the EU's first "associate member", telling the European Parliament on Wednesday that she wants to work on opening the door for Ottawa. The status would involve closer ties across several key sectors.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke last week of seeking a "unique alliance" with the EU, at a moment when his country's relations with the United States and Donald Trump are tense. Carney attended the annual keynote speech in Strasbourg and is due to address the parliament on Thursday. Without naming the US president, von der Leyen said offering Canada some form of EU membership was "not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength".

Trade pressure in the background

The overture comes after trade talks between Canada and the United States collapsed last month, setting off a series of new tariff measures. EU members have also been hit by tariffs under the Trump administration. In her State of the Union address, von der Leyen argued that partnerships are a strategic choice for Europe, and that they also respond to "the fracture in the international rules-based system".

She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security among the fields for cooperation, and said the bloc and Canada "see the world with the same eyes" on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to climate change and geopolitics. "And we have stood together: on Ukraine, on defence, on raw materials and on supply chains. But above all... Europe and Canada believe in democracy," she said.

A European Security Council

In the same address, von der Leyen proposed forming a European Security Council that would include the United Kingdom and Ukraine, citing the continuing threat from Russia. A leaders' format focused on the security of the continent had long been discussed with partners such as Canada, Norway, Ukraine and the UK, she said, and the idea is "even more urgent now, given the nature and scale of the risks at play". Brussels, she added, will set out its ideas for turning the council into a reality.