Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney listens to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech during the annual State of the Union address at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on September 16, 2026.
Jean-Christophe Verhagen | AFP | Getty Images
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the European Union is opening the door for Canada to become the 27-nation bloc’s first associate member state.
The announcement marks a significant change in EU policy and signals a significant deepening of ties between Brussels and Ottawa.
In the annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg, France, EU member states said they want to take their relations with Canada to the “highest possible level.”
“And I said, dear Mark, that we urgently need to reconsider our partnership. That’s why I want to work together to open the door for Canada to become the first associate member of the European Union,” von der Leyen said.
Carney, who attended the speech, previously said Ottawa was keen to pursue a “unique security and economic union” with Europe, but not full membership.
Canada is currently embroiled in an intense trade war with the United States and has vowed to counter President Donald Trump’s tariffs dollar for dollar.
The EU has so far been reluctant to embrace the prospect of flexible membership categories, particularly when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the bloc to consider Ukraine as an associate member earlier this year.
Asked if Prime Minister von der Leyen’s push to accept Canada as the EU’s first associate member state was historic, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said: “I certainly think it’s a big step.”
“Europe is openly seeking new and deepening partnerships with all like-minded countries in the world,” Schmieding told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday.
“We’re not necessarily against the United States, but we’re clearly in favor of less dependence on the United States, less dependence on China, and deeper cooperation with other countries and like-minded democracies is what we’re really seeing in economic rearmament,” he added.
