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. Photograph: Graham Hughes/EPACanada and EU announce new alliance open to like-minded countriesAlliance for the Future, unveiled at Montreal summit and open to other countries, conceived for world ‘shaken by new storms’

Canada 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”.

“Our societies have been shaken by new storms,” Carney told reporters, referring to the damaging effects of the climate emergency but also the “erosion of democratic norms” and “the weaponization of trade”.

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.

While a trade war between Canada and the United States has seen Carney go hunting for new geopolitical partners, an over-reliance on American companies – especially for defence – has also given Canada pause.

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 pointed to a planned merger between the Canadian artificial intelligence company Cohere Inc and Germany’s Aleph Alpha GmbH as a step to lessening reliance on American AI giants. The tie-up will see the newly formed company have dual headquarters in Berlin and Toronto, and Canada’s federal government has announced a stake in Cohere worth up to C$1.6bn.

“We are not waiting for the future of AI to be decided somewhere else by those we don’t know, or by whom we don’t trust,” Carney said on Thursday.

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.

“When trade becomes a tool of economic pressure, it’s the families that pay the price, from the supermarket shelf to the cost of a new car,” Von der Leyen said, noting that previously trusted trusted suppliers of energy, critical minerals or semiconductors “are increasingly turned into instruments of pressure”.

“More competition, more choice,” Carney said earlier in the day, suggesting the alliance could find ways to build certainty around supply chains and “withstand shocks, together”.

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.