Carney says proposed Canada-EU partnership will go to Parliament for debate and vote

Prime Minister Mark Carney says an enhanced partnership between Canada and the European Union will be presented to Parliament for debate and a final vote. Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, he said Canada welcomes the ambition to become the EU’s first associate member, though the arrangement’s exact meaning remains to be defined.

Carney referred to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech the previous day, when she proposed moving beyond a trade relationship to make Canada the EU’s first associate member. He said polling shows an overwhelming majority of Canadians support much closer ties with Europe. Canadian officials had previously downplayed the associate-member characterization and continue to say the partnership’s specific name has not been settled.

Carney said Canada and Europe should deepen co-operation on critical minerals, defence, artificial intelligence and energy security. He also called for measures allowing young people to live, work and study on either side of the Atlantic, as well as an integrated financial-services market. He did not name U.S. President Donald Trump, but referred to strained relations between Canada and Europe and the U.S. administration.

Trump said Wednesday in North Carolina that Canada potentially becoming an EU associate member would be a hostile act, and threatened “serious” tariffs against the EU if it moved ahead. Carney said the partnership was not intended to create a third bloc to rival great powers, but to build resilience against outside control of open markets, threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity, and efforts to undermine freedoms, democracy and the rule of law.

Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s incoming ambassador to the European Union, said Wednesday that the partnership’s name and specific details were still being finalized. He said a formal announcement is expected at the EU-Canada Summit in Montreal in October. Any new labour-mobility programs would be limited and would require consultation with provinces, he added.

Conservative MPs have said EU associate membership could compromise Canadian sovereignty, warning about open borders, tax revenue flowing to Brussels and newcomers taking Canadian jobs. It is unclear whether associate membership would bring any of those changes. Ten of the EU’s 27 countries have yet to ratify a Canada-EU trade deal that has been provisionally in place for nine years, and Canadian businesses have not used European market access to the same extent that European industries have used access in Canada.