Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg to welcome Canada becoming the EU's first associate member, calling for "deep cooperation" to secure their strategic autonomy. The proposal comes amid heightened trade tensions, as Donald Trump has threatened "very serious tariffs" on Europe if the plan proceeds, though Carney emphasised that Canadians are united in their right to forge independent international agreements.

In his speech, Carney outlined cooperation areas including critical minerals, energy security, artificial intelligence, defence industrial capacity, space and digital payments, whilst proposing a youth exchange programme and Canadian membership of the EU's Erasmus+ education scheme. The associate membership category does not currently exist in EU treaties, making this unprecedented; whilst EU member states broadly support closer Canada-EU ties, some have expressed reservations about the formal designation, though Carney maintained that the substance of the relationship matters more than nomenclature.