Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomes idea of EU associate membership

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed the idea of ​​his country becoming the first associate member of the European Union, saying that Canada and the EU were “stronger together”.

“Canada welcomes this ambition, and I can tell you that polls show that an overwhelming majority of Canadians support much closer ties with Europe,” he declared before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where he was applauded at length.

“Europe and Canada are stronger together,” he also said, emphasizing the “common values” linking the two blocs. The essence of the Europe/Canada partnership is “seeds, values, ideas, trade, people and progress that have crossed the Atlantic in both directions for centuries”.

“We are not allies of circumstance. We are not looking for zero-sum agreements,” said Mark Carney, who was already Ursula von der Leyen’s guest of honor on Wednesday for her back-to-school speech to MEPs.

Against a backdrop of disenchantment with the United States, the President of the European Commission proposed on Wednesday that Canada could become the first “associate member” country of the EU, speaking to Mark Carney. Ursula von der Leyen also proposed that this North American country join the future “European Security Council”, which she hopes for. Stung, American President Donald Trump then threatened on Wednesday to cut off trade with the EU.