Von der Leyen says EU-Canada associate membership is "not a partnership against anyone else"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday that she backs Canada becoming the EU's first associate member. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who attended the address, had said the previous week he wanted a distinctive partnership with the bloc. Canada's relations with Washington are tense amid a trade dispute: negotiations collapsed last month and were followed by new tariffs. Von der Leyen listed manufacturing, technology, artificial intelligence, defense, energy, critical minerals and economic security as possible areas of cooperation, building on the two sides' existing free-trade agreement. She framed the plan as mutually beneficial, without naming President Donald Trump. Carney is due to speak to the parliament on Thursday.