Europe Today: Metsola exclusively on Euronews as Carney addresses EU Parliament amid Trump's tariff threat

Name: Europe Today: Metsola exclusively on Euronews as Carney addresses EU Parliament amid Trump's tariff threat
Uploaded: 2026-09-17T06:58:29+00:00
Duration: 19 min 53 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:14Good morning, it is Thursday the 17th of September. I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today,

00:20your daily dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.

00:25Coming up, one day after the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed opening

00:31the door for Canada to become the European Union's first associate member, Mark Carney

00:37takes centre stage at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. At a time of tense trade relations

00:42between Ottawa and Washington, Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech today will be closely watched

00:48in EU capitals and also in Washington DC where the President Donald Trump has already been reacting

00:54and speaking to the press.

00:56If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or

01:02stop

01:02trading with Europe.

01:03Plus, in this time of such uncertainty, friends matter. The words of the President of the European

01:09Parliament regarding Mark Carney's presence in the European Parliament today and his closer

01:14ties with the European Union. In an exclusive interview with Euronews in Strasbourg,

01:18Roberta Metzola stressed the importance of like-minded allies also like Australia and New Zealand.

01:24And one day after the European Commission President delivered her far-reaching State of the Union

01:30speech that touched on an array of topics from China to an EU Kids Act, we speak exclusively

01:35to multiple EU Commissioners to hear exactly what she meant. But first, to Strasbourg, where

01:41Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will address the European Parliament later this morning.

01:46This comes just one day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed opening

01:51the door for Canada to become the EU's first associate member, a move that caught some EU

01:56capitals by surprise and triggered reactions from Donald Trump. For more, we can take you straight

02:01over to Strasbourg, where our Europe editor, Maria Tadeo, is standing by for us. Maria, another big day

02:07for Strasbourg.

02:10It is, Maeve. Good to see you. And of course, good morning from Strasbourg. Today, the focus is on the

02:17Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He will address the European Parliament. This is a message to a very

02:23specific European audience, policymakers, MEPs. And it all hinges around that associate membership bid that

02:32yesterday both Carney and the head of the Commission pitched. There are many questions around what exactly

02:38this associate status means. Is this going to be a new political partnership? Will this be an expanded

02:44trade deal, a sort of C+++, or is this really a new way of doing politics, a new path

02:50forward for countries

02:52that may not want to join the European Union, but want to orbit around the EU? As I say, this

02:58message matters

02:58from the Canadian Prime Minister because he wants to cut through and speak directly to Europeans.

03:04That's what we were told yesterday. And you already see some reactions, certainly from the president

03:09of the US, who overnight threatened to impose new tariffs on the European Union based on this associate

03:16membership with Canada, if, he said, perceives this is a hostile act towards the United States. Of course,

03:23the timing and the context matters because Canada and the US are locked in a trade war that shows no

03:29signs for the time being of escalating. And I should also point to some extent, this underlines why the

03:35Canadians want this. They believe MAGA world means you either align to America's foreign policy or you

03:41get punished. I should also note when it comes to the Europeans yesterday, multiple officials that we

03:47spoke with, they were very keen on playing down the idea of retaliation, the idea of backlash from the

03:52US saying that, in fact, Brussels and the United States already have a trade deal in place, which,

03:58by the way, tripled tariffs on the Europeans. The US got the better part of the deal.

04:03So you've been speaking to multiple officials. You also spoke exclusively to Roberta Metzola,

04:08the president of the European Parliament. What does she have to say, Maria?

04:13Yes, Maeve, we spoke exclusively on Euronews with the head of the European Parliament. She will be the host

04:19of that speech from the Canadian Prime Minister today. She said this is a complex, difficult world,

04:25and therefore you want to keep your good friends, like-minded partners closely together. It's also

04:30interesting to me, and you're about to see it. She said associate membership. Yes, there are many

04:35question marks around how it works. Yes, it's not really in the books, but it could pave a third way

04:41for countries that want to be associated with the European Union, but cannot become members. She

04:46alluded to Australia, New Zealand, and I wonder, this is just my personal observation, but is there

04:53a debate too and a message aimed at the United Kingdom? Let's take a look. President, thank you so

04:59much for joining us on Euronews. The Canadian Prime Minister is about to address the European Parliament

05:05at your invitation. I also know you had a bilateral meeting yesterday. Why do this now? Why extend this

05:10invitation? Well, I think it was pretty impressive in a way that we would use, as a European Union,

05:16the State of the Union debate, the exchange with President von der Leyen to also do it with

05:22the Prime Minister of Canada. An ally, a friend, a country that shares our values, our love for democracy,

05:29our love for more trade, with specific emphasis of, as we saw, an openness that the European Union

05:36will show towards countries like Canada with associate membership. This is the reason why,

05:41as a European Parliament, we decided to open an antenna office in Ottawa, which means that we will,

05:48as a Parliament, intensivise our links with the Canadian Parliament, because we have so much in common.

05:55We sometimes vote on exactly the same thing at the same time. We work together across all political

06:00groups with the different colleagues in the Canadian Parliament, and I can only see that,

06:06if I can say, the way is up from here. The way is up from here, and you are the

06:10head of the Parliament,

06:10so you know the treat is, well, pretty much better than anyone here. I don't know what associate

06:15membership looks like. To me, you're either a member of the EU or you're not, and you're waiting to join.

06:20What's this new partnership going to really be about? Well, actually, we have different forms,

06:24both in terms of whether you have countries who want to join the European Union or countries that

06:29are part of the European Economic Area, and in this case, countries with which we want to deepen

06:34our relationship, and that includes Canada, and I'm not, I don't doubt that that will also include

06:39other countries that will come, not only knocking at our door. Absolutely. We've already seen it,

06:44both in terms of legislation that we pass, where we see partners from across the world, Australia,

06:49New Zealand being some examples of saying, look, we want to deepen our relationship. We're doing it

06:54in terms of trade. We're doing it in terms of conversation on what we do with social media,

06:58with children, with critical raw materials, alliances that can be forged. And I think

07:02in the global sort of, in the big picture, and that's, I think, what we cannot let go in this

07:08time

07:08of such uncertainty, is that friends matter. And if we can do more things with our friends,

07:14then let's do them. And just to pick up on this point for our viewers, because this is really a

07:18moment of transformation. You are saying that there could be a third way. You're not a country

07:22that's part of the EU. You're not a waiting-in member. There is now a third way that will open

07:26with Canada. Yes, absolutely. And in fact, one thing the Prime Minister... That's a huge transformation.

07:29Absolutely. And in fact, that we always believe, and we say it, and we're proud that we say it,

07:34that when the European Union faces challenges, we stand up to defy and be stronger. And I think

07:40this is one of those moments. And in fact, the Prime Minister of Canada said that the interest in him

07:44coming to address the European Parliament has been huge in Canada, not only because we're close

07:50as countries individually with all our communities there, because all the European countries have

07:55representatives or former citizens who moved there in the past, but also because we're so close in the

08:02way we do our politics, so close in what we believe that things can only improve. And we also see

08:07that

08:07reflected in the polls of Canadians when it comes to their impression of the EU. But I have to ask

08:11you,

08:11is this a partnership that is the result of legitimate interest or just born out of necessity? Because,

08:16of course, the timing is not a coincidence. There is a big trade war going on with the US and

08:21the

08:21Canadians. Is this a necessity or is this a real friendship? No, I think first of all,

08:25it's always been a real friendship. We're not just discovering it now. Secondly, it's an addition.

08:30We're not talking that this is against anyone or any country in particular. But when friends come to

08:35us and say, let's do more, then we will be the first ones to finger open the door. And just

08:39a final point,

08:39you say this is not against anyone. Nonetheless, there is a concern that the President of the US could look

08:44at

08:44this and say, guys, you're teaming up against me. Do you fear that backlash? No, we have different

08:50trade relationships with different countries. We have a trade relationship and an agreement with the

08:55United States and we will intensify our trade relationship with Canada. No reason for retaliation. You don't

08:59see any reason for retaliation? No, no, no. We are equal partners. We want to deal with each other with

09:05equality, with dignity and respect. Well, President, thank you very much. Thank you.

09:12And as you can see there, Strasbourg is a hive of activity this week, with all eyes on both Mark

09:17Carney's presence and, of course, Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech yesterday. The

09:21Commission President used her moment in the spotlight to pitch the case for a stronger,

09:25more independent Europe and even called for a new security form for the European Union.

09:30For more on the exact contents of these ideas, our Marie Teo spoke to European commissioners

09:34responsible for the economy, trade, climate and defence. We are already two years in the new

09:41European commission's mandate and, if anything, the urgency of strengthening our security and defence

09:46has increased. As regards NATO, we have been emphasising from the very beginning that once we

09:53started to work on this area of security and defence at the EU level, which is relatively new,

09:59because previously the EU was not doing this, that we are doing this to complement NATO, not to compete

10:05with NATO or not to contradict NATO. There is lots of capacities we need to build up because we see

10:11the war in Ukraine has been turned into drone war and also Russia is producing like millions of drones

10:20per year, so we certainly need to strengthen our drone defence capabilities.

10:26It's clearly underlying of the argumentation we are using with our Chinese partners. From the tonality

10:34of the speech of the president from the line is clear then that it will be a big disappointment and

10:40the political interest will be to look for the solution through other instruments. We will fight tooth

10:47and nail for every job, for every workplace, for every company, for every factory, because we know that

10:54the industry is a fabric of European society and we know that all the revenue which is generated by

11:01our highly competitive industry is the contribution to the European way of life, to the European social

11:09model and therefore my message to my Chinese partners was that this scope will be on trade.

11:16The fact that Canada and the European Union both feel compelled to take such an extraordinary step I

11:24think is a sign of the times we live in. The world is in turmoil that many of the rules

11:30that we that we

11:31thought were holy and were to be respected you know no longer do and therefore you have to look for

11:38allies

11:38who share the same values, have the same outlook, have the same interests in geopolitics, in climate, in the economy,

11:46in trade. It's a clear plan how to make NATO stronger because what this you know is in

11:55European defence architecture what it will take care about is how to make Europe much stronger in defence

12:02and this is what our Transatlantic partners are asking with their concept of NATO 3-0 where they are

12:10asking us as Europeans to take primary responsibility peace through strength means that Ukraine needs to

12:17be stronger and Ukraine can be stronger if we shall increase even that support which we are providing

12:24now very successfully we are implementing so called to paying support loans 60 billion but it looks like

12:30that it's not enough.

12:34And now we can get some more analysis on that state of the union speech and hear what was said

12:39and what

12:40was not. For that I'm joined by our political correspondent Jorge Librarero who followed it

12:44very closely and blogged it live. Now Jorge yesterday we talked about whether or not Ursula von der Leyen

12:50was any good at reading the room. How did she do and will the speech move the needle? Will it

12:55make

12:55any difference at all? Can I be honest or is it too early in the morning? Be honest. Okay I'll

13:00be honest.

13:01I don't think this speech in particular will move the political needle in a considerable way. Yes she continued

13:07the topic of European independence that she introduced last year but she didn't bring forward any elements

13:14that could tangibly push the idea towards a new step. We also saw headline making announcements,

13:22the associated membership with Canada. We don't know what it means. It's a legal concept that she

13:26basically invented on stage and we also saw this idea of the European Security Council and also a coordinating

13:34mechanism for hybrid attacks that immediately raised the risk of duplication with NATO. So I think her

13:41commission needs to answer a lot of questions before we can really judge these ideas. And what about

13:46support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia? We were expecting some announcements there but we

13:51didn't get them. Indeed this caught my attention because the situation inside Ukraine is very dire now with the

13:57new wave of escalation that Russia is launching non-stop drone attacks and also the blockade in the Black

14:04Sea. And she didn't say anything about new sanctions on Russia. In fact she said that what we don't necessarily

14:11need is new sanctions but the enforcement of the existing sanctions. Which makes me think that her commission

14:18might be running out of fresh ideas or might be afraid of proposing new sanctions that then the member states

14:24might reject. And then regarding support for Ukraine we know that Ukraine is facing very important budget

14:31deficit and this is a problem that Europeans sooner or later will have to address. And of course there

14:37was no mention about the Russian assets but this I was expecting. So what is next now for Ursula von

14:42der Leyen?

14:43The speech marks the start of the legislative cycle right so it means that it's time to move beyond the

14:49hype and get

14:49to work. Ursula von der Leyen now faces an emergency situation in the energy markets. We've seen the

14:55latest numbers. Oil and gas are drastically rising because of the latest developments in the Middle East.

15:02European citizens are increasingly feeling the pain and European leaders are increasingly concerned about it.

15:08So I think they're going to be look at Brussels for new solutions. So keep an eye out on that.

15:13And then of course

15:14we have the fight over the EU budget. Von der Leyen needs to convince the leaders to keep the ambition

15:19high.

15:19And this is going to be a big task for her. That's going to be the real fight, Jorge Lodero.

15:23Thank you so much for your analysis.

15:25And now we can actually head back to Strasbourg to our Maria Tadeo who's speaking to MEPs who are reacting,

15:30of course, to that speech yesterday and anticipating Mark Carney's speech this morning. Maria.

15:37Yes, Maeve, we continue with those reactions from the European Parliament. And now we are joined by David McAllister,

15:42who is a German MEP of the European People's Party, but also the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of

15:48the European Parliament.

15:49You are in some ways the voice of this Parliament's foreign policy. So I want to ask you to that

15:55extent,

15:56why do this now? What's an associate membership? Do you know what that means? I'm not entirely sure myself.

16:02Well, I think what an associate membership means still needs to be concretely defined.

16:07But I do understand that the Commission President yesterday wanted to underline that our relationship

16:12with Canada is very unique. Canada is the probably, quote, most European, unquote, country in the world

16:21outside Europe. And we have the trade agreement seat on the one hand. We have our security and defense

16:27partnership on the other hand. So we have a solid ground. And now the Commission President wants to

16:31take our relationship to the next level with Canada.

16:34So in your view, is that going to mean a political partnership? Is this you take the CETA trade

16:39agreement and you add on? Is this something entirely unique? Mark Carney keeps saying this will be a unique

16:45partnership.

16:47When it comes to trade, we have the CETA agreement from the year 2017. And CETA has delivered concrete

16:53results, positive results for Canadian businesses and also for European businesses. I would like to call

16:59on the 10 member states in the European Union who still haven't ratified the CETA agreement that they

17:04finally now make this step. Because until now, CETA is only applied provisionally.

17:12And when it comes to security and defense partnership, well, I also need to see room for further cooperation.

17:19For instance, how to have continued support to Ukraine, but also what can we do together to

17:24guarantee the security of the high north in the Arctic? So there are many fields from

17:28raw materials of cybersecurity to a cooperation in the Arctic where Canada and the European Union

17:33can still move closer together. And you call for the ratification of CETA. And that was my next

17:38question because we see the big difficulties to approve just as part of a trade deal. How does the

17:43head of the commission, your party, the EPP, and the Canadians think they can get this partnership

17:47going? Because it seems to me they will have many hurdles. We're trying to understand, is this just

17:52politics? Is this just about creating a moment here because you have to create one? Because this is

17:57politics. Or ultimately, is this going to manifest in a real partnership? When? By when? What's the

18:02timeline?

18:04The CETA agreement is a so-called mixed agreement, which means that you need support ratification of

18:09the national parliaments. And this obviously is taking too long. I'm very open here. It's taking

18:15far too long. I do not understand why some of our member states still haven't ratified CETA. But 99%

18:22of

18:22all the CETA rules are being applied anyhow. But they're being applied provisionally. But the final

18:27ratification of the CETA agreement would be a symbolic gesture towards Canada. That is for one

18:31point. But now we want to have, after we have CETA, I would say we need a kind of a

18:36CETA 2.0.

18:37Let's take our economic partnership to the next level. And hopefully, this will happen much quicker

18:43than until now. Okay, I have two questions. We're running out of time. But I have to ask you,

18:47do you fear retaliation from the U.S.? The President of the United States of America said overnight,

18:53if this becomes hostile, there will be tariffs on the EU. I think if the President of the United

18:58States had listened carefully to Ursula von der Leyen's speech, she would have understood that

19:02this is about strengthening the partnership between the European Union and Canada. It's not

19:07against any third country. And for the UK, is there a way forward to, just briefly,

19:11is this now a model for the UK, Canadian associate membership? Well, first of all,

19:16we need to define what associate membership actually means. But apart from that,

19:20every cooperation format with a third country will always be tailor-made. Every third country

19:24has different interests and also different constitutional obligations to respect.

19:29Well, sir, thank you so much for joining us on Euronews. Maeve, we continue our coverage,

19:33looking down to that speech at 11.30 today. We do indeed. You'll be live from Strasbourg then

19:37with your special report. But that brings this edition of Europe Day to an end. Thanks for tuning in.

19:41See you soon.

19:42Bye.

19:46Bye.

19:47Bye.

19:49Bye.

19:50Bye.

19:51Bye.

Europe Today: Metsola exclusively on Euronews as Carney addresses EU Parliament amid Trump's tariff threat

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