'Associate membership' for Canada is 'not against anyone', Brussels tells Trump

By Jorge Liboreiro & Peggy Corlin & Vincenzo Genovese & Marta Pacheco Published on 17/09/2026 - 9:07 GMT+2•Updated 9:11 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to address the European Parliament on Thursday morning and lay out his vision of a deeper, broader partnership between his country and the 27-strong bloc. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT It comes a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen invited Canada to become the EU's first-ever "associate member", a novel concept that lacks legal precedent and raises more questions than answers. Overnight, US President Donald Trump threatened to slap "very serious tariffs" on Europeans if the idea of "associate membership" were carried out as a "hostile act". "I think it's laughable," Trump said. In a reaction statement, the Commission said: "The proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength." Follow the Euronews live blog. 9:11 GMT+2 'Associate membership' for Canada is 'not against anyone', Brussels tells Trump We've just heard a brief reaction from the European Commission to remarks by US President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose "very serious tariffs" on the EU if the idea of granting "associate membership" to Canada were carried out as a "hostile act"."As our President made clear yesterday, the proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength," a Commission spokesperson said. Trump threatens EU over ‘hostile’ plan to make Canada associate member European Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen pitched the idea of associate membership for Ottawa during her annual State of the Union speech on Wednesday, wi… 8:58 GMT+2 Welcome to the Euronews live blog Good morning! We are following the aftermath of Ursula von der Leyen's headline-making invitation to Canada to become the European Union's first-ever "associate member".Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to address the European Parliament at 11.30 am. Will he offer his own interpretation of what "associate membership" means?