Carney reveals what Canada-EU alliance means for US relations

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reportedly said the growing Canada-EU relationship is not intended to compete with the United States, underlining that the new partnership has its own objectives and that his proposal was not aimed at creating a new geopolitical bloc with better manners.

Carney’s comments come a day after European Commission President von der Leyen suggested a plan for Canada to become the bloc’s first associate member, igniting a new tariff threat from Trump.

Notably, Canada and the European Union have both been the target of Trump’s tariffs impelling them to seek new alliances to strengthen their economies.

In this connection, Carney told EU lawmakers in France, “I'm not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great power rival, only with better manners.”

“We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten territorial integrity or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”

Carney argued for strategic collaboration to strengthen resilience against what he called new storms referencing global climate instability, and the decay of democratic institutions during a speech in which he spoke in French and anchored the long-standing historical relationship between Canada and the EU.

According to polls, Carney welcomed von der Leyen’s vision to make Canada an EU associate member and noted that the vast majority of Canadians also supported close ties. He said Canada and Europe should cooperate on critical energy minerals, highlighting Canada’s potential to export liquefied natural gas and hydrogen to European markets. 

Furthermore, he also underlined defense production, payment systems and artificial intelligence areas for closer ties, adding that Europe and Canada could collaboratively establish AI safety protocols.