The European Union has invited Canada to work toward becoming its first “associate member,” a title meant to underscore the nation’s growing closeness to the 27-country bloc as both face deteriorating relationships with the United States.
President Trump has waged a relentless trade war with Canada, challenging its economy. The United States has pulled back support for NATO and Ukraine, leaving the European Union scrambling to shore up its defenses. That vacuum has left both the bloc and the nation looking for new partners as the alliances established after World War II shift.
“We must urgently reimagine our partnerships,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, on Wednesday during a major annual speech in Strasbourg, France. Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, was seated directly to Ms. von der Leyen’s left as she made her address.
“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the European Union,” she told him.
The invitation may be more of a symbolic gesture than a meaningful step toward closer integration. It is not yet clear how associate membership would reshape an already-close relationship when it comes to trade, technology or travel. Still, the announcement on Wednesday was met with a standing ovation from the room of lawmakers.
Ms. von der Leyen said the proposal was “not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength.” But it is clear that Europe and Canada see themselves caught between a competitive China and a sometimes hostile Trump administration.
“It’s a big swing, politically and rhetorically,” said Jörn Fleck, a senior director focused on Europe at The Atlantic Council in Washington. “This is obviously signaling toward the U.S.” and “it’s also signaling to potential allies that the E.U. is willing to get more creative.”
Mr. Carney gave a headline-grabbing speech at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this year during which he argued that the world order that emerged from the Cold War was facing a “rupture, not a transition,” and that “middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
Wednesday’s announcement was a vivid demonstration of that strategy.
Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, said that talking of an associate member label sent an “interesting signal” to Canada, but one that for now is likely more symbolic than practical.
Ms. von der Leyen did not lay out in detail what associate membership to the European Union might entail. But she noted that Canada and Europe had plans to work more closely together on the Arctic, their defense industrial bases and critical minerals. Canada and the European Union will meet for a summit at the end of October, where they are expected to lay out more concrete ideas.
They are also planning to team up on security.
Ms. von der Leyen called for a European equivalent to a NATO provision that allows for the convening of defense-related meetings when a nation is threatened, known as Article 4. The European Union already has a little-known collective defense guarantee, but Ms. von der Leyen pitched “Europe’s own Article 4” and said that when it was “triggered by one member state, all member states would convene.”
She also called for a new leaders’ group, the European Security Council, that would include non-E.U. partners in Europe like Britain, Norway and Ukraine, and also Canada.
If it proves to be meaningful, the push to bring Canada closer could encounter roadblocks. E.U. member states have warned offering too many benefits to a would-be associate would diminish the value of full membership, for instance. It is not clear what exactly the legal pathway would look like, though experts said it would likely require member state approval. As Mr. Carney navigates a historic low in his country’s relationship with the United States, the destination for three-quarters of Canadian exports, he has been focused on bringing his country closer to the bloc.
Trade talks between Canada and the United States collapsed last month, locking the two countries in an intensified trade war. Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st state, prompting a countervailing wave of patriotism among Canadians.
By contrast, polls suggest that four out of five Canadians want Mr. Carney to bring their country closer to the European Union and that more than half would like Canada to join the bloc as a member.
Ottawa and Brussels already have a free-trade agreement, and though the deal has not been approved by 10 of the 27 E.U. member states, about 90 percent of trade between the European Union and Canada is tariff-free.
Mr. Carney often calls Canada “the most European non-European country.” European Union leaders have spent years joking that it could join the bloc if only it were not on a far-flung landmass.
Earlier this week, Terry Reintke, a German politician who leads the Greens group in the European Parliament, noted that Canada would make its debut next year at the international singing competition beloved on the continent — a symbol of deepening ties with Europe.
“It already starts: They are going to become part of the Eurovision song contest,” she said. “The scene is set.”
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