Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told DW that Canada is seeking closer ties with the European Union to "diversify and deepen" its partnerships beyond the Americas. He spoke to DW's Katharina Kroll at the Port of Montreal Tower after talks in Montreal with EU leaders on a new, closer partnership.
Carney said he favors the term "associate membership," a status that does not yet exist for any other country. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed the label, but German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government has resisted it, according to the report. Carney said the arrangement would mean "the closest possible partnership without being a full member of the European Union," because Canada is not geographically in Europe and therefore cannot seek accession.
Carney said Canadians have concluded the country is "overdependent on the United States" and "too closely connected" to it. He said the talks were not aimed at excluding the United States. He described the two countries as close NATO allies and said cooperation with Europe could in many cases go deeper than cooperation with the US.
He cited the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which he called "one of the most successful free trade agreements in the world." He also pointed to research programs such as Horizon Europe and student exchanges through Erasmus+. He named space technologies, artificial intelligence and critical minerals as areas where cooperation could expand.
On US President Donald Trump, Carney said the best approach is to "be direct, to be clear" about Canada's bottom lines, show respect, and steer negotiations back to core issues. Asked whether the talks could provoke further US tariffs, he said Canada had "been living with this for some time." He said the US trade actions against Canada were "unjustified under our trade agreement." He said the talks with Brussels were "a positive act" meant to help address global challenges.