Canada and Europe 'stronger together,' Carney says amid spat with US

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged the strengthening of European Union ties during a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Carney emphasized the importance of building on each other's strengths, both where they differ and overlap. He called for rapid and deliberate work on securing strategic autonomy in areas such as critical minerals, defense-industrial capacity, AI, computing, energy security, and space.

Carney also advocated for seamless digital trade in non-agricultural goods and services, as well as deeper people-to-people ties, allowing young individuals to work, study, and live in either the EU or Canada. The prime minister did not explicitly mention the U.S. or President Donald Trump during his address, but stated that Canada and Europe aim to build resilience to prevent any entity from controlling their open markets, impairing their sovereignty, threatening their territorial integrity, or undermining their freedoms, democracies, and rule of law.

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had previously proposed Canada as the EU's first-ever associate member, emphasizing the desire to elevate the relationship between Canada and the bloc.