Costa: EU wants closest possible ties with Canada after membership proposal

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DUBLIN ― European Council President António Costa said in an interview with POLITICO that the EU wants to “do more” and “act as much as possible with Canada” as the bloc seeks to define its ties with Ottawa.

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered to make Canada the EU’s first “associate member” — to the surprise of many European governments who are still wondering what the relationship would entail.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been pursuing stronger links with Europe to reduce his country’s dependence on the U.S. amid a trade dispute between the two countries. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed fresh tariffs on Canada last month and has repeatedly threatened to make it the “51st state.”

Costa told POLITICO that the EU wants to develop “the closest possible” relationship with Ottawa. When asked to define “associate membership,” Costa said: “This concept means basically that we want to do more and act as much as possible with Canada,” adding that “there is just this small problem that geographically they [Canada] are not a European country” and cannot apply for EU membership.

The EU and Canada signed a landmark trade agreement in 2016. CETA, as it was known, took effect the following year but wasn’t ratified by 10 EU countries, including France, Italy and Belgium.

Costa said the EU “can do much more with them [Canada] than only trade. We can work on defense and security. We can work on investment in AI, quantum, the new technological challenges.”

“We can work with them to strengthen democracy, because we are like-minded and reliable partners,” he added.

Costa pointed to the upcoming EU-Canada Summit in Montreal Oct. 29-30 as a key moment to define the future relationship with Ottawa.

In a further sign of warming relations, Costa will co-host a public event on multilateralism with Carney and Kenyan President William Ruto in New York on Monday on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly.