Carney says deepening ‘alliance’ with European Union is a work in progress

Prime Minister Mark Carney says discussions about deepening the “alliance” between Canada and the European Union are in early days yet, dialing back expectations as he departs for France to address the European Parliament.

Speaking to reporters in Toronto Tuesday, Carney said there are “strategic areas” that Canada can focus on with the 27-member political and trade bloc, including energy and critical minerals.

But while there is an “economic component” to those talks, Carney said Canada’s push to diversify away from dependence on the United States is ultimately about the country’s sovereignty.

“One of the lessons of the last few years is that integration, whether it’s trade or in a supply chain or in a technology, which used to be only an asset, is being used as a weapon by certain countries and others. So, a country like Canada that has many assets, we have to look at where we stand and who our partners are so that we are integrating, in other words, we’re trading with and connected to partners on which we can rely,” Carney told reporters.

“And that makes us more independent. So … yes, there’s an economic component, but it is about greater sovereignty, having partnerships.”

Carney made the comments after a speech at the Canada Investment Summit, an event aimed at bringing in $1 trillion in foreign investment to Canada over the next decade. Both the investment summit and Carney’s overtures to European leaders are set against the backdrop of ongoing tensions with the United States and President Donald Trump’s administration.

The prime minister left the summit Tuesday to travel to Strasbourg, France, where he will become the first world leader to attend the European Union’s “state of the union” debate on Wednesday and on Thursday will address the continent’s politicians.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, suggested that Canada was exploring becoming an “associate” member of the EU. That’s led to wide and varied speculation about what that would actually mean – there is no category for “associate” membership in the E.U.’s founding treaty, for instance.

But Carney cautioned against a “big reveal” about Canada’s future relationship with the European Union on the trip, noting that discussions about “deepening” ties began last June and will continue at a summit planned for Montreal next month.

“This is a process that has been underway for more than a year since we deepened our strategic partnership last June,” Carney said.

“This is the next stage of that process.”