Carney and EU leaders meet in Montreal to forge 'associate membership' deal

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in Montreal on Friday to advance plans for a significantly deepened Canada-EU partnership, a status von der Leyen has labelled "associate membership."

Carney told DW that Canada and the EU both used the term, defining it as "the closest possible partnership without being a full member of the European Union" — impossible for Canada on geographic grounds, he said. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government is resisting the specific label, the interview noted.

The Canadian leader said the country had drawn a clear lesson from its trade difficulties with US President Donald Trump: Canada was overdependent on the United States and needed to diversify. "We're overdependent on the United States. Too closely connected," he said, adding that deepening partnerships with like-minded countries was the response.

Carney pointed to existing frameworks, including the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which he called one of the most successful free trade agreements in the world, and participation in programmes such as Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. He also identified space technologies, artificial intelligence and critical minerals as areas for expanded cooperation.

He rejected the characterisation of a "new transatlantic bloc without the US," saying both Canada and the EU remained close alliance partners with Washington inside NATO.