EUROPEAN Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today proposed opening a path for Canada to become the European Union’s first associate member.

Tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump have driven Ottawa closer to Europe.

“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada being the first associate member of the EU,” Ms von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during her annual State of the European Union address.

Mr Carney received a standing ovation from European lawmakers. He is due to address the European Parliament tomorrow.

Mr Trump’s tariffs and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Canada to seek closer economic and security ties with Europe.

Mr Carney has called for a “unique alliance” with the EU as Canada seeks to reduce its heavy dependence on US trade.

Ms von der Leyen said Canada and the EU would build on their existing free trade agreement with a broader “Alliance for the Future” aimed at creating “a common prosperity and economic security space.”

She said: “We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest, but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work.”

Ms von der Leyen said the expanded partnership would cover advanced manufacturing, technology, defence production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and economic security.

“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said. “In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”

Canada has retaliated against US tariffs and rejected trade terms Mr Carney says would weaken its sovereignty.

The EU has reached a trade agreement that set a 15 per cent US tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU exports while Europe eliminated tariffs on US industrial goods.