Europe Today: Canada welcomes EU's 'associate member' offer, but what next?

Name: Europe Today: Canada welcomes EU's 'associate member' offer, but what next?
Uploaded: 2026-09-18T06:57:19+00:00
Duration: 20 min 22 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:13Good morning, it is Friday the 18th of September. I'm Maeve McMahon and this is Europe Today,

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

00:25Coming up as energy and fuel prices soar across Europe, EU finance ministers are meeting in Ireland

00:32in a bid to rein in the spiralling crisis. With winter fast approaching, Euronews' Shona Murray

00:39sat down exclusively with Ireland's finance minister Simon Harris. We'll be in Dublin with an update.

00:44Meanwhile, at least 20 people have been injured and energy grids damaged after Russia unleashed a

00:50fresh barrage of missile strikes across Ukraine. Poland's Donald Tusk heads to Kiev today just

00:56days after Russian drone strikes hit close to the Polish border. This, as President Donald Trump

01:02says he's reached a crossroads regarding the war in Iran and UN experts say there's now reasonable

01:07grounds to believe that the US committed war crimes inside Iran. Plus, Sweden's centre-right

01:13Prime Minister Ulf Christensen has announced his resignation after losing last weekend's

01:19parliamentary election. The move paved the way for left-wing opposition leader Magdalena

01:24Andersen to form a government, a task that could take months. But first, after receiving a rock star

01:31welcome in Strasbourg, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the invitation to make Canada

01:36the first ever associate member of the European Union, though he stopped short of seeking full

01:41membership or ceding sovereignty. The question, of course, is what would this new status for Canada

01:46look like and how it would differ from existing partnerships? To dive a little bit deeper, our

01:51EU correspondent, Anja Skudens, joins me now for analysis. Just tell us, help us digest this news

01:56that, of course, comes after a very long week. Yes, good morning, Maeve. A mammoth week for European

02:01citizens as well as newsmakers. And it started well with a bang with European Commission President

02:06Ursula von der Leyen taking the floor of the hemicycle in Strasbourg. Using her agenda,

02:11under-setting State of the European Union address to surprise us all with this invitation to Canada

02:17to become the first associate member of the European Union. And to give you a little bit of

02:21insight into how the sausage is made when it comes to journalism, us journalists usually get embargoed

02:27copies of important documents such as this speech, and this invitation was not included. So this meant

02:33journalists like me, we leapt out of our seats when this was broadcast all around the world,

02:39but we're really left with digesting what this associate membership really means, and we're

02:44expecting the journalists to get underway with that today. And tell us, how was the reaction in Canada?

02:49Yeah, so Canada has been widely supportive of this. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney,

02:55took to the floor of the hemicycle with his own speech. In between selfies as well as thunderous

03:01applause, he took to the floor. The middle power icon, he stated, he welcomed this alliance,

03:06but he skirted around the details of what this actually meant, but it would be forged on a

03:12partnership strengthened by energy, defence, security and trade, and a touch of civility. Let's

03:18take a listen to what he had to say. I also want to be precise about what I am not

03:25proposing.

03:27I'm not proposing a third block in order to become a great power rival, only with better manners.

03:36We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience,

03:44so no one, no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial

03:51integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.

04:01Mark Carney there yesterday in the Parliament in Strasbourg. But Angie, beyond the hype and all the

04:05pictures of maple syrup, how will this work in reality?

04:08Yes, so that is really yet to be seen. Mark Carney stressed that it's up to the European Union to

04:12define what this relationship is. We're expecting that to be developed before an EU Canada summit

04:18scheduled in Montreal in late October. The ball really is with the European Union's court. We know

04:24that from the EU officials that I've spoken to, however, they weren't totally consulted by the

04:29European Commission President when it came to this pitch. So we're expecting some heated discussions

04:34certainly underway. When this is proposed formally to Mark Carney with the terms of the relationship,

04:40it will then go to the Canadian Parliament for those lawmakers to vote on it. But what is really clear

04:45is that while these geopolitical tectonic plates continue to shift with increasingly bellicose

04:51US President Donald Trump with that trade war with Canada, we expect Canada and the EU to become

04:57closer. But that is yet to be seen what that exactly means.

05:01OK, Andra Scudin, thank you so much for that analysis. And now we can head to Dublin,

05:05where European finance ministers are gathering for two days of talks, joined, in fact, by their

05:10counterparts from Canada and the UK. This big announcement of a so-called associate membership

05:15for Canada, of course, top of the list today, along with spiralling petrol and diesel prices.

05:21Our correspondent, Shona Murray, is in Dublin for us this morning and joins us now. So tell us,

05:26Shona, what is being said about this prospect of a closer Canadian relationship?

05:32Well, good morning, Maeve. I mean, as Ireland is the president of the European Council, they were the

05:36first to welcome this. I mean, it makes sense. I think there's an acknowledgement across Europe that

05:40this is about the shifting nature of global politics, but also the transatlantic relationship

05:45of which the United States was the linchpin. But we know Canada is embroiled in a very disruptive

05:50trade war with the US. The EU has had its trade issues with the United States. We also have even

05:56heard overnight that the United States is due to 25,000 troops from NATO territory. So the US is no

06:03longer the ally or the partner it once was. So therefore, it makes sense that Canada and the EU

06:10would move closer together as like-minded organisations, countries and so on. So that does

06:16make quite a bit of sense. And there's also a feeling really that we don't know whether this is going

06:23to

06:23be rooted in law or what the negotiations will emerge like. But for the moment, definitely welcoming

06:29news. Maeve? And as you say, Shona, the Irish were the first to react. And you actually sat down

06:33exclusively with the Irish finance minister. What did he have to say?

06:39Well, that's right, Maeve. I mean, all the EU ministers are here in Dublin for an ECOFIN meeting,

06:45but also they'll be joined by their Canadian counterparts, their British counterparts. So

06:49there will be a discussion really about the windfall profits that energy companies are making as part

06:55of the chaos, the ongoing chaos, particularly within the Middle East. And there's been calls

06:59by some European capitals for taxes on that, so that the exchequers in each country can then deliver

07:05a little bit of appeasement when it comes to people's energy bills. That's high on the agenda.

07:10Also, the future of AI will be very much up for discussion, although no major breakthrough

07:16will be. But I caught up with Simon Harris, who's deputy prime minister and the finance minister of

07:21Ireland. And I asked him first about the negotiations with Canada.

07:26The actual meaning behind the phrase is something, quite frankly, yet to be determined. But it

07:29bothers us less because, you know, you can use whatever phrase you want. The good news here is

07:35that the State of the Union made a real signal of intent to have a much closer relationship between

07:39Canada and the European Union. And I think we can't gloss over that fact. The fact that the European

07:44Union, in the speech delivered by the president of the commission, where you really outline the big

07:48strategic projects for the time ahead, has identified a closer working relationship with

07:52Canada as a priority for the European Union, and then to see the prime minister of Canada,

07:56Mark Carney, respond in kind. Donald Trump has said it's a hostile act and he'll apply even more

08:01tariffs on both sides. This is not a hostile act towards anybody. This is a positive development

08:06for the European Union wishing to partner with Canada, which we already do, in areas of common

08:10interest. But of course, we'll continue to economically partner with the United States. We have a trade

08:14agreement with the United States. A lot of painstaking work went into that. We saw it advance

08:18even further in relation to Irish whiskey and the decision made by President Trump to remove tariffs

08:23from that last week. We need to build on that and find more opportunities. So this isn't either or.

08:28Can I talk to you about Aachenish, the plant here, the Russian-owned plant that exports aluminium to

08:34Russia? We know it also exports across Europe, but obviously there's a real concern that that is found

08:41then in the defence industry in Russia, which is obviously prosecuting this war against Ukraine.

08:47Will Ireland sanction that, even if it isn't formally as part of the sanctions regime?

08:52We don't cherry pick when it comes to sanctions. We stand with Ukraine. The European Union stands

08:57with Ukraine. Ireland is the president of the Council of the European Union stands with Ukraine.

09:01There's a war taking place on the continent of Europe, and we must stand with Ukraine for as long

09:05as it takes. The issue, though, in terms of what is sanctioned or not, is a matter in the first

09:09instance for the Commission to bring forward proposals. That's always been the approach

09:12we've taken in this country, sanctions at an EU level. I think it has served the collective

09:17European effort against Russia well. But we've been very clear, too, alumina is not a product used

09:23in Ireland. It is, though, perhaps a critical supply chain for many parts of the European economy.

09:28The evidence is that the alumina does make its way into Russia. I mean, Russia has a war economy

09:33anyway, so it does make sense that it would definitely be part of the war machine. Would it be

09:39something that Ireland would consider doing unilaterally?

09:41Ireland's approach to sanctions have always been to operate at a European level, and we've

09:45been consistent in relation to that. I think it would be rather odd for Ireland to adopt any

09:49other approach.

09:49We've seen spiralling prices when it comes to energy costs, diesel in particular. We heard

09:55Donald Trump say that part of the reason for the diesel high prices is Zelensky attacking

10:01Russian diesel infrastructure, not at all relating that to the war in Iran. Do you agree

10:07with that? No, I mean, the reason there's a major energy crisis in the world right now

10:10is because the Strait of Hormuz is closed. And the most pressing issue on the mind of

10:14all European finance ministers, and I think, quite frankly, most of our citizens across

10:19the European Union, and certainly here in Ireland, is energy prices. Energy prices at the

10:22pump, of course, in relation to diesel and petrol. Prices on the farm in relation to things

10:27like green diesel. But now, as you come into the winter period, the cost of heating your

10:31home and the cost of energy in people's home too. And governments around the world, including

10:36in Ireland, are seeking to make interventions to assist people. But I always make the point,

10:42I would make it again today, the greatest economic intervention we could see is de-escalation

10:45in the Middle East.

10:47Your fellow finance ministers have asked you to look at a potential windfall tax for energy

10:51companies that are earning billions and what everybody else is suffering. Can you tell

10:55us where you are with that? Is it something that you support?

10:57Our energy company is making extraordinarily large profits on the back of this energy

11:02crisis. And they're not making those profits on the basis of being more enterprising or

11:05being innovative. This isn't about rewarding enterprise. They're making the profits because

11:09of the chaos that we're seeing in the energy markets as a result of the strait of Hormuz

11:13being closed. So I will be working with colleagues in the first instance here in Dublin this weekend

11:18to have an initial conversation around a windfall energy tax.

11:25And sticking to that very topic, the World Economic Forum has published a new study circling

11:30out high energy costs as the biggest drag on European competitiveness with electricity

11:35prices two or three times more than competing economies. For more, we can head now over to

11:40Switzerland and bring in Andrew Caruana Galicia from the World Economic Forum. Good morning and

11:45thank you so much for joining us. Just tell us, based on your research, how can this major

11:49problem be addressed?

12:01We're having a little problem with the sound there speaking to Andrew Caruana Galicia. He's

12:06the head of Europe and Eurasia at the World Economic Forum. We'll come back to him a little

12:11bit later in the programme. But now moving on to the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

12:16and the Tech Commissioner Henne Verkunen have officially unveiled their EU Kids Act, proposing

12:22block-wide rules to protect teenagers online, especially from AI chatbots. To hear if people

12:28in this town support the idea, our Adnan Leal took to the streets to ask them.

12:41And in just a minute, we'll bring you that report that our Adnan Leal was out on the streets asking

12:46people here in Brussels if they're in favour of it. We'll bring you that in just a minute. But now

12:50actually, we can speak to Cecilia Bonnefeld-Dal, that is the head of Digital Europe, the Brussels-based

12:57group that represents Meta, Google, OpenAI, TikTok and Microsoft. Good morning. And hopefully we can

13:03hear you and see you clearly. And excuse me to our viewers for the previous technical hiccups. Just

13:08tell us, what does Digital Europe feel about this law? Are you for it? Or are you against it? This

13:12proposal, I must say.

13:15Good morning. And, well, Digital Europe represent around 65,000 companies in 35 countries. And I can

13:23tell you that the digital community of digitalising industries, we are all in favour of protection

13:31of children. I mean, we have seen around 10 member states already putting forward proposals

13:37on how to regulate this. You have both Malaysia and Australia already who has regulated this.

13:46And of course, protection of children is high on our agenda across the board. And really

13:52an alignment of the European regulations will be absolutely key. We cannot have that if

13:59you live in Denmark, your protection as a child is different from the one in Germany and Spain.

14:04So it is an absolutely crucial moment for the Commission to put this forward and to align across

14:11the board on how we protect our children online.

14:14Of course, part of this law would shift responsibility to the tech companies themselves that you, of course,

14:18represent to protect children. Will they? Will they self-police?

14:23I mean, a protection of children online cannot be only one person's responsibility or one party's

14:31responsibility. It is a joint responsibility on public and private sector. And of course,

14:38we already have a lot of different protections in place. What is important now is that we find the

14:45right balance and that we actually get it to function. The biggest risk is really that if you

14:50are a child or parent that you have to interpret 27 different national rules and you end up being

14:57confused about what is allowed and what is not allowed. And then, of course, we need to be totally

15:03sure that we are not inventing something that we already have. We already have extensive platform

15:09regulations, the AI Act, the data protection in GDPR, the DSA, the AI Act and the GDPR, of course.

15:19So the Kids Act really have to find that extra layer on top that is needed to give the right

15:26protections for children.

15:27And just last week, we heard that AI could wipe out humanity. How do you react to these comments?

15:34Well, I think we should say AI is a tool. And as any other tool, we need to find the

15:41right balance

15:42of how we use that tool. And AI is also the only way that we can do online protection or

15:48that we can

15:49do cyber protection from big cyber attacks. It is the only way that we can cure cancer or make important

15:57optimization of what you're going to talk about in a second, the energy grid. So AI is basically

16:04a ticket to a lot of good things. But there are things that, of course, we need to look at

16:08how

16:09to avoid those risks. So without AI, there is also no online protection of children.

16:15Okay, Cecilia Bonifield. Dal, thank you so much for joining us. And as you kindly pointed out,

16:20we will now continue to discuss the energy grid and the impact it's having on our pockets.

16:24Andrew Caruana Galicia from the World Economic Forum is on the line there and can hopefully

16:30join us now. Just tell us, how can this issue be addressed, Andrew? We know that

16:33European gas prices are also currently four times more than in the United States.

16:48And unfortunately, we're still having difficulty crossing over to speak to Andrew Caruana Galicia

16:53there from, of course, the World Economic Forum, the organization that represents the

16:58annual Davos Summit that takes place, of course, every year in January and sets the agenda for

17:05the year. And his report is, of course, available online to read at euronews.com and digs deep into

17:11the fact that two years after Mario Draghi came out with the report, only 15 percent of it has been

17:17implemented. Another, of course, major point in that is security. And I'm still joined here on

17:22set by our Angie Scudins, who covers security and defense for us here at Euronews. And it's just back,

17:27in fact, from Latvia last week, where you covered that summit. And this week, Angie, in that State

17:32of the Union speech, we saw a big focus on security, on defense, and also this idea of potential

17:37security structure that could be created, with many MEPs complaining that that could actually rival

17:42NATO. Your thoughts?

17:44So what I've picked up from my conversations with defense officials and the chatter that I've seen

17:49online is that there's a real risk of duplication here. We don't want Ursula von der Leyen's pitch

17:54of the European Security Council to rival NATO. NATO has been around for decades. It's got some very

18:00powerful members, such as the United States. They don't want this structure to potentially impede on

18:05the decision-making processes of NATO and to rival NATO without the United States, which is arguably the

18:11most powerful player when it comes to NATO. We also have seen so many groups set up with the task

18:17of

18:17ensuring Europe's defense and security. We've got the Coalition of the Willing, the Ukraine Defense

18:22Contact Group. Will another group rival all of these and also blunt the efficacy of these organizations?

18:30The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last year also unveiled a huge amount of defense

18:37project. We're talking about the drone wall initiative, which was arguably a bit of a flop.

18:41We've seen so many drones enter Europe's airspace. So the real question here is whether all of these

18:47initiatives, including the European Defense Council, whether it can meet up to the hype or the promise

18:54of what von der Leyen has has met, has stated. But that is truly yet to be seen. And we're

19:01expecting

19:01some more commentary to come through from those experts as well.

19:05And that's always the problem, isn't it, with those State of the Union speeches. In one way,

19:10she has to promise a lot. But then, of course, implementation is always key.

19:13And particularly when it comes to announcements coming out from the United States with

19:18the 25,000 troops that are going to be withdrawn, taken back from the European continent.

19:24Okay, Angela Scudins, thank you so much for your reporting. And of course,

19:27everyone here at Euronews, which was a very busy week. But that does bring this edition of Europe

19:31today to an end. Thank you so much for your company. As always, any points or comments on

19:36any of the stories we're covering for you here or any stories that we've missed,

19:40you can reach out europe today at Euronews.com. That is our email address.

19:43Take care and see you soon on Euronews.

20:15Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Europe Today: Canada welcomes EU's 'associate member' offer, but what next?

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