EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says she wants Canada to become the bloc’s 1st associate member

Through its partnership with Canada, von der Leyen urged EU states to tackle climate change, competition with China, and other major challenges. Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this week that Canada was seeking a 'unique alliance' with the European Union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for Canada to become the EU’s first associate member, highlighting shared democratic values and existing trade agreements.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect Wednesday of Canada becoming the 27-nation bloc’s first “associate member”, as she pitched closer cooperation on tech, defence and energy to Canadian leader Mark Carney. Von der Leyen told the European parliament in Strasbourg that, as democracies face a “fracture in the international rules-based system”, Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together. “I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen told the Canadian prime minister, who was attending her annual keynote speech — drawing a standing ovation in the chamber.

EU looks beyond trade with Canada Carney has been pursuing closer ties with the European Union, as both seek to pivot away from a hostile United States under President Donald Trump. The first non-European head of government to attend the annual “State of the European Union” speech — before addressing the parliament himself the next day — his visit is meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month. Von der Leyen said it was time to move from cooperation based on trade to a broader “alliance for the future” and “bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible”.

“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.

She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security as other fields of cooperation. “This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said. But both the EU and Canada have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the US and competition from China.

“In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is forging stronger relationships with trusted partners,” Carney’s office said in a statement. Discussions with von der Leyen focused on areas including critical minerals, energy, defence, research and development, and advanced technologies, it added. What’s in a name While EU treaties do not envision the possibility of becoming an “associate member”, the idea was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year vis-a-vis Ukraine.