Von der Leyen Offered Canada the First-Ever 'Associate Membership' of the EU in Her State of the Union Speech. Carney Stood Up, Hugged Her and Kissed Her on Both Cheeks While Parliament Gave a Standing Ovation.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the European Union address on Wednesday to propose making Canada the bloc's first associate member, an unprecedented overture to a G7 country an ocean away and a direct answer to the tariffs and "51st state" talk coming out of Washington.

"I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada being the first associate member of the EU," von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was seated in the front row of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Carney nodded, rose from his seat, embraced her and kissed her on both cheeks as lawmakers stood and applauded. He is scheduled to address the Parliament on Thursday.

Von der Leyen offered no details on how associate membership would work or how it would sit alongside the countries negotiating full accession. But she laid out what she called an "Alliance for the Future" that would go beyond the existing Canada-EU free trade agreement, known as CETA, to build "a common prosperity and economic security space" spanning advanced manufacturing, technology, defense production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity. "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."

A Canadian official told The Associated Press last week that Ottawa was seeking an arrangement that stops just short of membership, including the right for Canadians to live and work in Europe without visas. Canada has already become the first non-European country to join the EU's 150-billion-euro SAFE defense procurement program, giving its companies access to joint purchasing. Carney's office welcomed the proposal, saying Canada was deepening ties with the EU "to strengthen our sovereignty," and Carney said talks would accelerate at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal in late October.

The push is driven by dependence. Roughly 70% of Canadian exports go to the United States, and President Donald Trump's tariffs have hit hard. Canada has retaliated and rejected trade terms Carney says would weaken its sovereignty, while the EU took the opposite path, accepting a deal that caps U.S. tariffs on most European goods at 15% while Europe dropped its own duties on American industrial products. Carney said Tuesday that economic integration, once seen as an asset, is increasingly "being used as a weapon by certain countries."

Carney set out the logic in a closely watched speech at Davos in January that drew a personal rebuke from Trump. "When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered," he said. "This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination."

Von der Leyen framed the relationship as one of values as much as trade. "Above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy," she said. "We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest, but to all of us." Iratxe García Pérez, leader of the Socialists & Democrats group, praised Carney for showing "great courage confronting Donald Trump," and Irish MEP Barry Andrews called Canada "a perfect ally for Europe," noting that more than one in ten Canadians claim Irish ancestry.