Canada and the EU launch an 'Alliance for the Future'

Canada and the European Union have agreed to take their relationship to a new level. At their 21st summit, held in Montreal on 29 and 30 October, Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched what they called an Alliance for the Future.

The EU says the alliance aims to create a common prosperity and economic security space. It covers closer cooperation on trade and investment, supply chains, artificial intelligence, climate, security and the Arctic, and brings Canada further into EU programmes.

The leaders also agreed to define, by the 2027 EU-Canada summit, an 'ever-closer association of Canada to the EU', short of full membership. Carney went further, saying Canada is working towards becoming the EU's first associate member, a status that does not yet exist in EU treaties. Germany had pushed to keep that phrase out of the joint statement, and Carney has set June 2027 as his target.

Carney said Canada will open talks to join Galileo, Europe's satellite navigation system, and link its payment systems to Europe's fast-payment networks. He also announced that Canada will join an EU loan programme for Ukraine, with an initial contribution of 500 million euros.

Canada's Parliament will debate and vote on any new partnership, Carney has said. The European Commission and Canada's cabinet plan to meet together in Canada in March to take the work forward.