Carney welcomes EU's associate membership

BRUSSELS — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed a proposal for his country to become the European Union's first "associate member", shrugging off threats from US President Donald Trump.

Canada and the 27-nation European Union are seeking to take ties to a new level in the face of an aggressive Trump — who reinforced those concerns by threatening tariffs over the push by Brussels and Ottawa.

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Carney said Canada "welcomes" the ambition expressed by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to make the country an associate member.

"We are not fair-weather allies. We do not pursue zero-sum deals. We hold common values for which we have always fought, and in whose defense we must always remain vigilant," Carney said to applause from European lawmakers.

"Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together."

Insisting that an EU-Canada alliance aimed to be a "beacon for democracies" and not to "dominate others", Carney listed a raft of areas where he wanted to ramp up cooperation.

"Let me take this opportunity to say plainly what Canada proposes," he said.

Trump has threatened to take action against the EU if it moves forward with von der Leyen's proposal to make Canada the bloc's first associate member.

"If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things," Trump told reporters en route to an event in North Carolina, calling the proposal "laughable".

"If it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe," he added.

France's Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad said the United States has no power to veto the EU's geopolitical choices. "It is not up to the United States — or anyone else — to choose the political and geopolitical direction of the Europeans," he said on Thursday.

Von der Leyen made the proposal on Wednesday during her annual State of the Union speech, attended by Carney, as she sought to deepen ties among allies in what she called "an openly hostile world".

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA