The president of the European Parliament has put forward the notion that Australia and New Zealand might pursue associate membership of the European Union, along the lines of an arrangement being considered for Canada. In her yearly State of the European Union speech delivered in Strasbourg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen floated the idea of Canada becoming the bloc's first associate member.
While full bloc membership remains the benchmark, a proposed "associate membership" tier — not yet formally established — could encompass tighter regulatory harmonisation, limited single market access, and involvement in select EU programmes. Reaching such an arrangement looks set to take time for Canada, with several of Prime Minister Mark Carney's opponents in Ottawa having voiced doubts about the plan.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola indicated that Australia and New Zealand could pursue a closer arrangement with the EU along similar lines to Canada, noting in a broadcast interview that the bloc was keen to deepen ties with a number of partner nations and anticipated further countries would seek to strengthen those relations in due course. "In periods of global instability, alliances carry real weight," Ms Metsola noted, pointing to Australia and New Zealand — both holding trade agreements with the EU — as examples of substantive partnerships spanning commerce, digital regulation around children and social media, resource cooperation over critical minerals, and broader strategic ties.
Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed support for strengthened relations with the EU, stating that closer collaboration between Europe and Canada would help safeguard the economic wellbeing of both populations. Addressing EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, Mr Carney described the relationship between Europe and Canada as mutually reinforcing, and clarified that he was not advocating for a third geopolitical bloc positioned as a rival to existing powers.
Addressing the European Parliament, Mr Carney described his country as a steadfast ally under all circumstances. He stated that the aim was not the pursuit of authority over others, but rather to build resilience ensuring that open markets remain free from external control, national sovereignty is protected, territorial boundaries are respected, and democratic institutions along with the rule of law are upheld.
Both the EU and Canada have been navigating trade tensions and broader pressures from the Trump administration as well as an increasingly active China. Trump indicated he would impose steep tariffs or halt trade with Europe across multiple sectors if the EU proceeded with von der Leyen's proposal to offer Canada associate membership, a plan he described to reporters while travelling to North Carolina as one he found wholly unconvincing. Trump also described von der Leyen's position on Canada as unreasonable, stating that further tariffs on Europe would be imposed if he viewed the proposal as hostile, while acknowledging that both Europe and Canada held substantial leverage.
The European Commission clarified that the proposal put forward by von der Leyen — still lacking detail and requiring approval from EU member states before it can advance — carried no adversarial intent, with spokesperson Olof Gill stating that the initiative to deepen ties with Canada was oriented toward collective strength rather than opposition to any third party.
Describing the proposal put forward by von der Leyen as an expression of collective resilience, Carney conveyed support for its ambitions and outlined areas where Canada would seek deeper ties with the EU, including strategic autonomy through cooperation on critical minerals, defence industrial capacity, artificial intelligence and computing, energy security, space, and payment systems. The discussion also covered digital commerce and the development of resilient broadband infrastructure linking Europe and Asia through their shared landmass. Distributed economic growth, he stated, tends to lift living standards across the population, and the aim is not independence.
