EU Head: Make Canada Associate Member  09/16 06:30

   European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed 
making Canada the European Union's first associate member, a striking overture 
as U.S. President Donald Trump's threats drive Ottawa closer to Europe.

   STRASBOURG, France (AP) -- European Commission President Ursula von der 
Leyen on Wednesday proposed making Canada the European Union's first associate 
member, a striking overture as U.S. President Donald Trump's threats drive 
Ottawa closer to Europe.

   Trump's tariffs and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have 
soured the relationship between the North American neighbors. Canada is seeking 
to reduce its dependence on the United States, the destination for roughly 70% 
of its exports, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for a "unique 
alliance" with the EU.

   In her annual State of the European Union address, von der Leyen said Canada 
and the EU would build on their existing free trade agreement, known as CETA, 
with a broader "Alliance for the Future" aimed at creating "a common prosperity 
and economic security space."

   She cast that closer relationship as rooted not just in trade but in shared 
democratic values.

   "Above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy," von der 
Leyen said to Carney, who received a standing ovation at the European 
Parliament in Strasbourg. He is due to address the Parliament on Thursday.

   A Canadian official familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press 
last week that Ottawa was exploring ties with the EU that could stop just short 
of membership. The official said Canada would seek an arrangement allowing its 
citizens to live and work in Europe without visas as part of a broader 
strategic partnership.

   Carney's office welcomed von der Leyen's proposal, saying Canada was 
deepening ties with the EU "to strengthen our sovereignty" and supported a move 
beyond CETA.

   Canada has already joined the EU's defense procurement program

   Von der Leyen said the expanded partnership would cover advanced 
manufacturing, technology, defense production, the Arctic, energy, critical 
minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity 
and economic security.

   "This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common 
strength," she said. "In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada 
to the highest level possible."

   Because Canada joining the EU as an associate member would be a first, there 
is no rulebook on how that would work or what it would mean in practice. It is 
unclear who would need to approve membership, and how long that could take.

   Currently, all steps toward EU membership must be approved unanimously by 
the 27 member countries.

   The idea of associate membership has been floated in the past for Ukraine, 
or for post-Brexit Britain, but no concrete steps have been taken.

   The relationship between Canada and the European Union has reached a point 
where the two sides need to move beyond rhetoric and start building something 
more substantive, said Tobias Cremer, a German member of the European 
Parliament.

   "Now is the time to stop sending each other love letters and put meat on the 
bone," said Cremer, from the center-left Social Democrats.

   He argued that any new arrangement should be more ambitious than another 
trade or defense agreement, describing the goal as a more holistic strategic 
alliance between Canada and the EU.

   Existing frameworks such as CETA could provide a foundation, Cremer said, 
but should be used more fully and expanded. The case for closer ties, he said, 
is increasingly being driven by geopolitics as much as economics.

   The aim, he said, should ultimately be bigger than a bilateral arrangement 
-- potentially positioning the EU as a convener of middle powers, an idea 
Carney has also raised.

   Canada this year became the first non-European country to join the EU's 
150-billion-euro ($173-billion) SAFE defense program, giving Canadian companies 
access to joint procurement as Europe seeks to increase its defense readiness.

   Iratxe Garca Prez, president of the Socialists & Democrats group in the 
European Parliament, praised Carney for showing "great courage confronting 
Donald Trump" and said allies were needed to defend "sovereignty, solidarity 
and international law."

   Carney said Tuesday that economic integration, once viewed largely as an 
asset, is increasingly "being used as a weapon by certain countries." 
Discussions will ramp up at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal in late October, 
he said.

   Carney has urged middle powers to work together

   Canada has retaliated against U.S. tariffs and rejected trade terms Carney 
says would weaken its sovereignty.

   The EU has taken a different course with Washington, reaching a trade 
agreement that set a 15% U.S. tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU exports 
while Europe eliminated tariffs on U.S. industrial goods.

   That contrast has loomed over Carney's push for closer European ties. In a 
closely watched speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he 
urged middle powers to work together to increase their leverage in an era of 
great-power rivalry.

   "When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from 
weakness. We accept what is offered," Carney said.

   "This is not sovereignty," he said. "It is the performance of sovereignty 
while accepting subordination."

   Carney's Davos speech drew a personal rebuke from Trump, and von der Leyen's 
overture to America's neighbor could raise the temperature again.

   Barry Andrews, chair of the European Parliament's Development Committee, 
called Canada "a perfect ally for Europe" and said closer ties could bring 
particular benefits for Ireland, noting that more than 10% of Canadians claim 
Irish ancestry.