EU's offer to Canada is proof that Europe is ready to stand up to Trump, says lawmaker

Rene Repasi, German member of the European Parliament, calls EU-Canada alliance plans 'bold'

The European Union's overtures to Canada are a signal that Europe is ready to take off the boxing gloves when it comes to dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump, says a German member of the European Parliament.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe wants to open the door for Canada to become an "associate member" of the EU — a designation that doesn't formally exist — during a speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday.

During his own speech on Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he "welcomes this ambition," and called for an "alliance of the future" between Canada and the 27 countries that make up the EU.

Carney is trying to move Canada closer to Europe as he navigates a trade war with the U.S. Trump, meanwhile, has called the prospect of an EU-Canada alliance as "laughable," and threatened to enact “heavy tariffs” on the EU if he perceives the deal as “hostile.”

René Repasi, a German member of the European Parliament, was in the room for Carney's speech. He says he welcomes a closer relationship between the EU and Canada, but says striking a formal alliance is easier said than done, and would require the negotiation of a comprehensive new treaty.

Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.

Renee, you were in that room. You were listening to what the Prime Minister said, including those words, welcoming that ambition. How did those words sit with you?

I was very glad, very happy that the prime minister mentioned these words. It was quite a daring move by Commission President von der Leyen to offer the so-called associate membership, which formally doesn't exist, but which we can consider as another word for extremely close ties between Canada and the European Union. And we were, therefore, glad to hear that the prime minister then, one day later, accepted this invitation to this close relationship.

Whatever it ends up being called, what do you see this kind of relationship looking like?

In a couple of years we might look back at this moment and consider it historic. Because it was basically the first step of realizing what the prime minister called in Davos the "alliance " of "the middle powers" in order to have something against the bullies of the world.

It's true that because we're entering uncharted territory, it's difficult to give it a very concrete shape. But politically, I believe the message is pretty clear that Canada and the European Union are now creating something very sustainable, very close, building up on this vision of Mark Carney, of this alliance of the middle powers. And he also consciously uses the term of an "alliance" in his own speech.

FULL SPEECH | Carney calls for 'alliance for the future' in speech at European Parliament

Politico was reporting, you may have seen, that European Parliament sources were telling them that Ursula von der Leyen's proposal mentioning associate membership in her remarks, caught EU members off guard. You're happy about it, it sounds like. But were you surprised?

Before I was a member of Parliament, I was a professor of European Union law and in constitutional theory of Europe. We discussed the category of associate membership. But formally speaking or legally speaking, it actually doesn't exist.

And then there was this mentioning. It took, indeed, the member states by surprise, took MEPs by surprise. It took also me by surprise. And, in that sense, it shows that it was a pretty bold move by the Commission president.

Words are one thing, action is another, as you well know. What would even be needed to establish that, if we're going to be the first?

This would require a treaty between the European Union and Canada. We already have a quite comprehensive trade agreement, CETA, between us. But what is here proposes much more.

The thing that we currently have, which is the closest to an associate membership, is the European Economic Area, in which they are together with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, which has full integration in the internal markets, which has participation in EU legislative products, which is joining also the case law of the European Court of Justice.

What basically Carney and von der Leyen want is something even more political than that, and that is something new. So it would require a very comprehensive new international treaty.

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The prime minister has also been clear, and certainly those who are not, you know, fully jumping on this bandwagon have said Canadian sovereignty has to remain intact. This would require the support of European member states. Do you think that support is there?

I can see why there's criticism on the term of membership. Normally, membership … in the European Union is something that other countries ask, and then we decide on the terms of the membership. It's not something that is offered.

But the idea is — and I think Carney made it pretty clear in his own speech — that we are sovereign nations bringing together our strengths in order to leverage them and to be built on common values. So it basically is on protecting our own sovereignty by expanding our ability to act.

In that sense, I do not consider it a threat to the sovereignty, neither of Canada nor of the other EU member states.

But in terms of the threats that the U.S president is levelling at this point, how does that, if at all, factor into, ultimately, the decision-making around this potential better relationship or closer relationship between Canada and the EU?

That shows how courageous the move of the Commission president was.

Mark Carney and von der Leyen are the two ends of the political spectrum amongst democracies [in] how to deal with Trump, since the Europeans basically didn't even try to fight and simply accepted a bad deal, from our perspective, in order to have our peace, whilst Canada is currently engaging in some sort of conflict with the United States.

By lining up with Canada, you must include in your own political calculation that tariffs might then be raised. And at that moment of time, you cannot say, "OK, now I'm chickening out of this partnership with Canada because Trump is saying this."

In that sense, it has been calculated that that might happen. And, therefore, it is a clear sign that the Europeans are changing their strategy towards the U.S. administration.

Interview produced by Leslie Amminson. Q&A edited for length and clarity