To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Watch: Is Canada about to join the EU? Is Canada about to join the EU? Headlines across Europe indicate a lot of confusion right now. The EU constitution rules that possibility out as Canada is geographically outside Europe. But in a speech on Thursday to the European Parliament, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said: Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed the European Union's ambition to make his country the first associate member of the bloc - but what would that mean in practice? Carney says he is seeking a unique relationship with the EU, in an apparent reference to the fact that EU treaties do not currently provide for associate membership. Germany had proposed Ukrainian associate membership earlier this year but Kyiv rejected the idea, saying it only wanted full EU integration. The EU itself also seemed reluctant. At the her State of the Union address on Wednesday, von der Leyen listed several key areas for cooperation, although she did not give specific details about how Canadian associate membership would work.

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Canada welcomes EU proposal to become'associate member' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed the European Union's ambition for Canada to become its first associate member, calling for closer cooperation on defence, critical minerals and energy security. Carney told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday that Canada and Europe were stronger together in the face of geopolitical rupture. His comments came a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed opening the door to Canada's associate membership, a status that does not currently exist. US President Donald Trump earlier called the idea laughable and threatened very serious tariffs on Europe if he considered it a hostile act. Canada and the US are locked in an escalating trade dispute, with each side imposing tit-for-tat tariffs after bilateral talks collapsed last month.

EU chief von der Leyen proposes'associate member' status for Canada Share EU chief von der Leyen proposes'associate member' status for Canada on social media European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has raised the prospect of Canada becoming the 27-nation European Union's first "associate member", a striking overture as both seek to pivot away from a hostile United States under President Donald Trump. Von der Leyen's statement on Wednesday came after Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this week that Canada was seeking a "unique alliance" with the EU, but not membership. "I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU," von der Leyen told Carney, who was attending her annual keynote speech. The first foreign head of government to attend the annual "State of the European Union" address, his visit comes in advance of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month. Carney will deliver his own address to the European Parliament on Thursday.

Carney's new love-in with EU has everything to do with Trump Wouldn't it be lovely if Canada was the 28th state of the European Union rather than the 51st state of the United States? The question was rather tongue-in-cheek. US President Donald Trump, who is currently locked in an escalating tariff tussle with Ottawa, has, on a number of occasions, declared his ambition to make Canada the 51st American state - causing deep offence amongst many Canadians. Finland is one of the EU's 27 member states and a close ally of Canada as a fellow Arctic nation. Teasing tones aside, President Stubb put his finger squarely on the pulse of deepening EU-Canadian relations. Canada is more Europe-minded than most Europeans! is a smiling retort you often hear in Brussels at the moment.

For decades, one of Canada's biggest selling points to foreign investors was its access to the world's largest economy next door. Prime Minister Mark Carney is now trying to sell something bigger -- to bet on Canada itself. The invitation-only meeting will bring some of the world's largest pension and sovereign wealth funds and asset managers together with corporate executives, Canadian premiers and federal officials. Carney, a former central banker with deep ties to the global investment world, wants them to put money into everything from mines and pipelines to ports, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. It is part of a much bigger push to catalyse $1 trillion in investment in Canada over the next five years, with about $280bn in public investment and government incentives to help draw in private and institutional capital.

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