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

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen endorsed a plan to make Canada the EU’s first "associate member," saying she wants to "open the door" to deeper ties that are not aimed at any third country but meant to strengthen a rules-based international order. The proposal follows Canadian leader Mark Carney’s push for a "unique alliance" with the EU amid rising friction with the United States - recently punctuated by collapsed Canada‑US trade talks, new tariffs and inflammatory rhetoric - and was framed around shared values on democracy, Ukraine and geopolitics. Von der Leyen presented the idea during a State of the Union-style speech attended by Carney and signaled it as a strategic response to global instability.

The plan would build on the existing CETA trade deal and expand cooperation into manufacturing, technology, AI, defence, energy, critical minerals, supply‑chain resilience and economic security, aiming to form an "Alliance for the Future" to create a common prosperity and security space. Other proposals in the speech included creating a European Security Council with partners such as the UK and Ukraine, convening the largest AI labs to manage frontier pacing, cutting business bureaucracy, a new emergency migration tool after the Ceuta crisis, and tighter social‑media rules for children to address rapid technological and social change.