Associate membership doesn’t currently exist as a formal category under EU treaties, and any such arrangement would need to be created and ratified by member states. <\/p>\n
The proposal came as Brussels and Ottawa seek to deepen ties, signaling a significant shift in the EU, which had been lukewarm to Germany’s proposal in May for granting an associate membership to Ukraine. <\/p>\n
In her annual state of the EU address in Strasbourg, France, the EU chief said the bloc wants to bring the relationship with Canada “to the highest level possible.” <\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pose for a group photograph at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on September 16, 2026. <\/p>\n
Ahmet Sel | Anadolu | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who attended the address, has said in the past that Ottawa was keen to pursue a “unique security and economic alliance” with Europe, but not a full membership. <\/p>\n
Canada has sought to diversify away from the U.S. following months of escalating trade tensions and as bilateral trade talks have collapsed<\/a>. Trump has slapped a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and plans to ban the country’s dairy, alcohol and auto imports<\/a> later this month, drawing retaliation from Ottawa. <\/p>\n “Washington and Ottawa may find an off-ramp from the current trade war, but Canada will continue to reduce its vulnerability to U.S. economic pressure,” said James Lindsay, a senior fellow at Council on Foreign Relations. <\/p>\n Von der Leyen’s pitch to Canada includes joint work on manufacturing, integration of defense-industrial bases<\/a>, a tech alliance, energy, artificial intelligence and cooperation in the Arctic. <\/p>\n Canada is already the only non-European country in the EU’s SAFE instrument<\/a> \u2014 an initiative that provides Canadian firms with preferential access to defense procurement \u2014 and has a free-trade agreement with the bloc, eliminating tariffs on roughly 99% of goods, though that deal still requires ratification by 10 EU states<\/a>.<\/p>\n Any fresh U.S. tariffs on the EU would test the trade framework Washington and Brussels struck last year, which set a 15% tariff ceiling on most EU exports<\/a> to the U.S. <\/p>\n![\"Canada](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789622291_488_108363488-17895462861789546283-48410437025-1080pnbcnews.jpg\")
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