Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is exploring whether Canada could become an "associate member" of the European Union, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed EU and Canadian officials. The EU is reportedly open to creating this new status as Canada's trade war with the United States pushes Ottawa toward closer European ties.
Carney is pushing the idea of turning Canada into an "associate member" of the EU, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed officials from both the EU and Canada. The bloc, which has historically resisted flexing its membership rules, is reportedly open to creating this new associate-member status specifically for Canada.
Canada's embassy in Brussels and the European Commission did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
Trade war with the US drives the pivot
Canada's escalating trade war with the United States has added urgency to its strategic pivot toward other trading partners. Relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated sharply since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, amid disagreements over trade and other issues. The dispute has led to tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in cross-border trade.
Canada and the EU are discussing ways to let Canadian goods, services and workers in strategic supply chains such as energy, AI, defence and critical minerals move freely, effectively shifting the EU's border, according to the Wall Street Journal. The two sides are also reportedly talking about laying underwater cables, jointly building data centres, cloud storage and new satellite networks, plus infrastructure to ship Canadian energy to the EU.
Carney has courted EU leaders on visa-free travel
Carney has spoken regularly with several EU leaders, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron, about letting Canadians live and work visa-free in the EU, the WSJ said, citing two unnamed officials familiar with the matter. Macron's press office did not respond to a request for comment.
Macron's office separately confirmed he will meet Carney on September 20 in Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a French archipelago off Canada's Atlantic coast, marking the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister to the islands. The Elysee said the meeting "symbolises the strength of the relationship that unites our two countries."
Any project to forge closer Canada-EU ties likely faces challenges, however, based on past efforts to implement a more modest trade deal that has faced fierce opposition within Europe. More than a decade after that deal was struck, and nine years after it provisionally entered into force, several EU countries still have not ratified it.
Source: Investing.com (Reuters)
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