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.

"Today our societies are being battered by new storms," Carney said during his address, naming them as climate change, "the erosion of democratic norms" and the "weaponisation of trade".

"Economic integration is now being weaponised, tariffs being used to exert pressure," he said.

"Financial mechanisms have been used for coercion. Supply chains constitute weak points to be exploited."