Canada and EU Strategic Alliance Proposal

Yesterday,

President von der Leyen spoke of moving beyond CETA to an

alliance for the future,

opening the door to Canada

to become the European Union's first associate member.

Canada welcomes this ambition, and I will

tell you polling shows that an overwhelming majority of Canadians

support much closer ties with Europe.

An alliance for the future is a unique, positive

approach that we will define together,

building on our common strengths and based on our shared values.

But let me take this opportunity to say plainly what Canada

proposes.

Canada and Europe should s- secure our strategic

autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range

of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals,

defense industrial capacity, AI and compute,

energy security, space and payments.

We should move towards seamless digital trade in non-agricultural

goods and a wide range of services.

We should deepen our people-to-people ties, allowing our youth

to work, study,

and live where they want on either side of the Atlantic.