Canada and EU announce new alliance open to like-minded countries

Antonio Costa, the European Council president, with Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister and, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Montreal. Photograph: Graham Hughes/EPAView image in fullscreenAntonio Costa, the European Council president, with Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister and, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Montreal.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleCanada and Europe have announced a new alliance of like-minded nations to serve as both a “protective canopy under which our citizens can thrive” and a powerful hedge against the unpredictable nature of geopolitics, while welcoming other countries to join.

Speaking to reporters on Friday from Montreal, the prime minister, Mark Carney, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, called the new partnership the Alliance for the Future and said the “deepest possible partnership between Canada and the 27-member bloc had the potential to offer unprecedented stability and opportunity”.

As they concluded their two-day summit, Canada agreed to contribute to a €90bn support loan for Ukraine. Leaders also said future discussions would lead to a more integrated market worth tens of billions of dollars, reduced trade and travel restrictions, and new educational opportunities for both sides.

Enquanto uma guerra comercial entre Canadá e os Estados Unidos fez Carney buscar novos parceiros geopolíticos, uma dependência excessiva de empresas americanas – especialmente para defesa – também deu ao Canadá uma pausa.

Last week, Elon Musk throttled the speeds of Starlink and Starshield over Ukraine in mid-October, severely disrupting Ukrainian military and defense operations.

Carney has repeatedly raised the concern that Canada’s defense technologies could be at the whim of political actors or companies with opposing interests. Musk, a dual Canadian citizen, is a critic of Canada’s governing Liberal party and has advocated for provinces to separate.

Carney apontou para uma fusão planejada entre a empresa canadense de inteligência artificial Cohere Inc e a alemã Aleph Alpha GmbH como um passo para reduzir a dependência dos gigantes de IA americanos.

Brussels and Ottawa also announced an agreement on Friday that would bringing Canada into Europe’s supercomputing network, giving Canadian access to European machines to train AI models.

In addition to lofty promises of helping to reshape the global order, or giving safe harbour to like-minded nations looking to weather uncertainty, Canadian and EU leaders also pitched their new, deeper relationship as one that addressed key sources of anxiety for residents, including the cost of living.

The leaders once again brought up the prospect of Canada becoming an associate member. The designation is uncharted territory, said Von der Leyen, who added: “We have the ambition, trust, and creativity to shape it together.

Enquanto os líderes se comprometeram com a ideia de associação de membros, disseram que um escopo mais claro do papel viria em uma cúpula de 2027. Alguns membros da UE ficaram irritados com a ideia de que o Canadá fosse atribuído a uma designação legalmente sem sentido que eles temem confundir outras nações que buscam adesão.

Germany and other states had worked behind the scenes to remove the phrase from a draft of the summit statement. But Von der Leyen, who first floated the term, and Carney both again referred to “associate membership” at the summit.

European Council president Antonio Costa, meanwhile, said earlier that Canada was “by far the most European of the non-European countries”, a sentiment that reflected a belief that despite geography, there was a collective sense of shared values.

Costa said the two sides would pursue “the most closer, the most deepest, the most stronger association ever between European Union and a non-European country”.

Still, the mere fact of the summit has caused friction in the province of Quebec, where the separatist Parti Québécois was recently elected to a minority government.

The premier, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, skipped the event after Ottawa’s refusal to let him speak publicly at it.

Ele disse que um convite para sentar na mesa principal era o governo federal pedindo ao Quebec “para voltar à linha, com a vassalização e invisibilização do Quebec que isso implica, em troca de obter assentos melhores para assistir ao partido.”.