Bloomberg Television Sep 17, 2026 9 min
With Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
Mark Carney told the European Parliament that Canada holds deposits of more than 34 critical minerals and ranks among the top producers of the ten most important to the energy transition.
He used the number to answer an offer made the day before. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had raised the idea of Canada becoming the European Union's first associate member. Carney's speech accepted the ambition and then set out, item by item, what Canada would bring to it.
"Canada welcomes this ambition."
Carney ran the Bank of Canada and then the Bank of England before entering politics, and he is now Canada's Prime Minister addressing the legislature of a bloc that his country already trades with under CETA. His proposal covers critical minerals, defense, compute, energy, space, payments and financial services.
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Here are the 7 arguments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Carney's organizing claim: the institutions the West inherited are organized by geography, while the capabilities it now needs are organized by function
He rejects self-sufficiency as the goal and names collective resilience instead, arguing that leverage over a dependent partner collapses long before independence is complete
Canada's offer is concrete: over 34 critical minerals, LNG and hydrogen at scale, Arctic geography, pension capital and access to both oceans
He wants Canadians inside Erasmus+ and the next Horizon program, so students and researchers move freely across the Atlantic
The most far-reaching item is an integrated market for financial services between Canada and the EU
He says polling shows an overwhelming majority of Canadians want much closer ties with Europe
1. Ally by Function
Carney opened with the structural problem rather than the policy. Alliances were built around regions; the capabilities that decide security and prosperity now cut across them. His answer was to organize around function and to accept an imperfect start.
"The institutions we've inherited are organized by geography. The strategic capabilities that we need are organized by function." — Mark Carney
"We can ally by function if we are bold and deliberate, and we shouldn't be cowed by the perceived scale of the task." — Mark Carney
"Just as dominance is the arrogance of the hegemon, perfection is the enemy of the good." — Mark Carney
He then made the economic case for diversification in a form that does not require breaking a dependence completely. A supplier's power over a customer, in his account, fades well before the customer becomes independent.
"The leverage of the powerful in an exploitive relationship collapses well before complete independence is achieved, because diversity confers advantage." — Mark Carney
"The objective is not self-sufficiency, it's collective resilience." — Mark Carney
2. What Each Side Brings
Carney listed the two inventories side by side. Europe's, in his telling, is market power, research, advanced manufacturing, standard-setting and a defense industrial base under reconstruction. Canada's is physical and financial.
"Europe brings so many things: market power, research depth, advanced manufacturing, the ability and the will to set standards that the world frequently adopts, a defense industrial base that's being rebuilt at speed." — Mark Carney
"We have one of the world's largest endowments of critical minerals, deep capabilities in space, AI and quantum, amongst the strongest banking systems and the most expert pension capital." — Mark Carney
"And where our strengths differ, they complement; where they overlap, they create scale." — Mark Carney
3. Beyond CETA
The relationship already has three layers, Carney said: the CETA trade agreement, a strategic partnership agreement struck in June, and Canada's position as the first non-European member of SAFE. His point was that none of it is keeping pace.
"We should recognize that the ecosystem we've built is not yet equal to the ferocity of the changing climate, and nor is it moving fast enough to match the speed of the upheaval." — Mark Carney
"Canada welcomes this ambition." — Mark Carney, on von der Leyen's offer of associate membership
"I will tell you, polling shows that an overwhelming majority of Canadians support much closer ties with Europe." — Mark Carney
4. What Canada Proposes
Asked nothing, and speaking from a prepared text, Carney still made a point of stating the proposal plainly. It is a list of sectors in which the two sides would pool capability, plus a trade ask that leaves agriculture out.
"Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals, defence, industrial capacity, AI and compute, energy security, space and payments." — Mark Carney
"We should move towards seamless digital trade in non-agricultural goods and a wide range of services." — Mark Carney
5. Students and Researchers
The people-to-people part of the proposal is specific: Canadian membership of two existing European programs rather than a new structure. Carney said Erasmus+ would put Canadian and European students in each other's universities, and that the next Horizon would let the two sides pool research money.
"We should deepen our people-to-people ties, allowing our youth to work, study and live where they want on either side of the Atlantic." — Mark Carney
"Canadian membership of the next generation of Horizon would allow us to pool resources, cooperate on frontier technologies, and leverage our world-class research institutes and universities." — Mark Carney
6. Minerals, Energy, Compute
This is where the number sits. Von der Leyen had announced European cooperation on critical raw materials for electric cars, chips, batteries, clean technology and defense the day before, and Carney answered with Canada's resource position and what it still lacks.
"I'll observe that Canada has deposits of over 34 critical minerals, and we are among the top producers of the ten most essential for the energy transition." — Mark Carney
"Our alliance can help fill Europe's need for reliable supply, Canada's desire for advanced processing capabilities, and our common objective to complete value chains in the transition and our defence." — Mark Carney
"Canada can contribute LNG and hydrogen at large scale to support Europe's energy security, including by developing and leveraging new port infrastructure in our High North and on our East coast." — Mark Carney
"We can pool new sovereign compute capacity and build more secure broadband connections between Europe and Asia via our common geography." — Mark Carney
He also put AI rules in the same basket as the hardware, pairing safety work with shared standards.
"Canada and Europe can join forces to develop AI safety protocols, coordinate common standards, and strengthen transparency, all while developing applications so that our governments and our companies can serve our citizens better." — Mark Carney
7. An Integrated Market
The last proposal is the one with the most regulatory weight behind it, and Carney kept it conditional. He asked only that the two sides examine joining their financial markets, and attached a caveat about resilience to the same sentence.
"Canada and Europe should consider exploring an integrated market for financial services, to broaden choice and reduce costs for our citizens, and to improve access to capital for our companies while maintaining our world-leading financial resilience." — Mark Carney
Bonus Insights
Carney thanked von der Leyen and European Council President Costa by name for the strategic partnership agreement reached in June, and thanked the Parliament for CETA, which he called one of the world's most successful trade agreements.
He closed on sovereignty rather than trade volume, arguing that a wider relationship is what protects a country's ability to make its own choices.
"And deepening and widening our relationship will strengthen our sovereignty, improve affordability and opportunity and security for our citizens, while safeguarding our ability to live our lives as we choose." — Mark Carney
Carney's bottom line is that Canada will trade access to its minerals, energy and compute for European processing capacity, research programs and market scale, and that he wants the arrangement built by function rather than by region.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
CETA (The existing Canada-EU trade agreement Carney wants moved beyond)
SAFE (Carney said Canada is its first non-European member)
Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe (The two EU programs he wants Canada to join, for students and for research)
European Commission (Von der Leyen's announcement on critical raw materials, made the day before, is what Carney's minerals section answers)
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