STRASBOURG, September 17 — The ovation started before Mark Carney reached the lectern. Lawmakers in the European Parliament chamber rose to their feet for the Canadian prime minister on Thursday, pressing forward to shake his hand and pose for selfies as he entered. It was a reception with a message, and everyone in the room understood it.
Eight months after Carney told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the old world order was dead, he stood in Strasbourg and began building its replacement.
A standing ovation — and a warning from Washington
Carney embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member, a status European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen floated on Wednesday when she said Europe wants to take its relationship with Canada to “the highest level possible.” Her proposal would move the two sides beyond their existing free trade agreement toward an “Alliance for the Future” encompassing what she called a “common prosperity and economic security space.” That status does not exist in the bloc’s treaties. It would have to be created, and its terms negotiated.
Carney acknowledged as much, saying “associate membership” remains to be defined, while outlining a vision of deeper integration across trade, defense, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, space, research and financial services. The goal, he said, is to make both sides less vulnerable to economic and geopolitical pressure.
He later told reporters he was not pursuing full EU membership. “We do not seek power to dominate others,” Carney said. “On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”
Trump’s response, and the shadow over the chamber
The now-souring relationship with the United States hung over the address. Speaking Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, President Trump threatened to respond to von der Leyen’s proposal by imposing more tariffs on the European bloc, possibly even cutting off trade completely in certain areas. He conditioned the threat on the “intention” of European leaders.
“If it’s a good intention, that’s fine,” Trump said. “If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.” He did not explain how he would discern those intentions.
He mocked the prospect as “laughable” and called Canada a “terrible trade partner.” Trump’s tariffs, demands for economic concessions, and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Ottawa to reduce its dependence on its neighbor and seek a far deeper economic, security and political relationship with Europe. That relationship has defined Canada’s economy for decades. Carney’s address appeared to show his determination to push forward in shaping a new world order, without shedding tears over what he said in January was the death of the old one.
At Davos eight months ago, he warned that great powers like the United States were using economic dependence to bully smaller nations and said there had been a “rupture in the world order.” When countries negotiate alone with a dominant power, he warned, “we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered.” “We know the old order is not coming back,” he said then.
“We shouldn’t mourn it. We believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers.” In that Davos address he touted “a comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU” to deepen defense procurement collaboration and “efforts to build a bridge” economically that he said “would create a new trading bloc of 1.5 billion people,” combining European and Canadian markets.
Trump rebuked him the next day. Thursday’s speech could further strain the relationship with Washington. Carney is set to host EU leaders next.
