Welcoming the Canadian Prime Minister, Parliament President Roberta Metsola said “Europe and Canada share a simple understanding: that we are always stronger when we work together. Canadians stood with Europe in our darkest moments, and we will never forget their sacrifice. Today, we are looking to the future together, with huge potential to deepen our cooperation from defence and trade to energy, education and research.”

Paying homage to the long historical ties between Europe and Canada, Mr Carney highlighted “our commitment to the rule of law, and our unyielding defence of human dignity, individual freedom, and democracy that share the same deep roots the same unwavering dedication.”

“We believe that a strong economy is not an end in itself but the means to a just society…. We believe that our prosperity grows when it is shared,” he said.

“Where our strengths differ, they complement,” Prime Minister Carney said, stressing that the “mutual advantage is at the core of the case for a deeper partnership between Canada and Europe”.

Referring to Ursula von der Leyen´s State of the EU speech delivered at the European Parliament yesterday, Wednesday 16 September, in which she announced the opening of the door to Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member, the Canadian prime minister said: “We welcome this ambition…. Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals, defence industrial capacity, AI and compute, energy security, space, and payments.”

He also talked about benefits of potential Canadian membership of the EU’s Erasmus+ programme and the EU’s forthcoming research and innovation investment programme as well as of creating an integrated market for financial services.

“Deepening and widening our relationship will strengthen our sovereignty, improve affordability, opportunity and security for Canadian and European citizens, while safeguarding our ability to live our lives as we choose,” he added.

The Prime Minister stressed that he was “not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival – only with better manners. We do not seek power to dominate others. 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.”

“An alliance strong enough so that no one can dictate our choices. Open enough that others can join. Principled enough that our strength reinforces international law rather than replaces it.”