Von der Leyen proposes Canada as EU's first associate member

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on September 16, 2026, proposed opening the door for Canada to become the European Union's first associate member, a status not set out in the bloc's treaties. She made the offer during her annual State of the European Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney present in the front row. Carney received a standing ovation from lawmakers and is scheduled to address the Parliament the next day. Von der Leyen said partnerships are a strategic choice that also respond to fracture in the international rules-based system. Addressing Carney as "dear Mark," she stated that Europe and Canada believe in democracy and that power does not belong to the strongest, richest or loudest. She announced an Alliance for the Future to create a common prosperity and economic security space on top of the nine-year-old CETA trade agreement, which still lacks ratification in 10 member states. Named cooperation areas include intelligent manufacturing, a tech alliance, defence industrial base integration, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, quantum computing and cybersecurity. She said the partnership is "not against anyone else." Any treaty change would need unanimous approval from all 27 EU members; members were lukewarm to Germany's May idea of associate status for Ukraine. Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed in August 2026 amid tariffs; roughly 70 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States. Carney's speech and an end-of-October summit in Montreal are next.