{"id":33632,"date":"2026-05-06T01:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/33632\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T01:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:49:10","slug":"canada-and-europe-should-get-creative-in-forging-closer-ties-eu-ambassador-says-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/33632\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada and Europe should get \u2018creative\u2019 in forging closer ties, EU ambassador says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU\u2019s Ambassador to Canada, Genevi\u00e8ve Tuts, says the bloc is looking to “elevate” its relationship with this country and take it to the “next level.”<\/p>\n

In an interview with the CBC\u2019s Power & Politics on Tuesday, Tuts dismissed the idea of outright membership, but said Canada and the EU should look for “something else, something stronger than what we have today.”<\/p>\n

“We have to be creative, we have to be innovative, and we are creative in Europe, we have ideas,” Tuts said.<\/p>\n

Recent polling suggests<\/a> the idea of Canada joining the EU is gaining in popularity within Europe. The notion has been floated by France\u2019s Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.<\/p>\n

A country can join the EU if it fulfils what’s known as the Copenhagen criteria, a list of specific values such stable democratic institutions, the rule of law and human rights. Any European State which respects these values may apply.<\/a><\/p>\n

While Tuts said that poses obvious geographic restrictions for Canada, “that doesn\u2019t mean that we should not look for another form of co-operation.”<\/p>\n

Carney on the world stage\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a summit of European leaders in Armenia, becoming the first non-European leader to receive such an invitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a nod to his earlier Davos speech where he warned of a “rupture” in the international rules-based order, Carney suggested it will be up to Europe to repair the rift.<\/p>\n

“That system … has been greatly weakened and needs to be rebuilt, and rebuilt perhaps in a different way, but rebuilt based on the same principles,” he explained in Ottawa on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“Your prime minister gave his vision of the world,” Tuts said of Carney’s Davos speech. “We are very close to that vision and we are now working and building on that to deepen even more than before the relationship we have.”<\/p>\n

The gathering of European leaders in Armenia came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump accused the bloc of failing to comply with a trade deal struck last year, and threatened to raise tariffs on EU-made cars and trucks from 15 to 25 per cent.<\/p>\n

Trump also announced plans to withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany following a spat with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his response to the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

\"Mount<\/p>\n

Mount Ararat is seen in the distance as Prime Minister Mark Carney departs Yerevan, Armenia after attending the 8th European Political Community Summit on Monday. (Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Risk to Canada likely low<\/p>\n

Roland Paris, director of the graduate school of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa and a former adviser to Justin Trudeau, says unlike Merz, Carney understands what provokes Trump.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s talking really tough in these speeches, but in practice he\u2019s avoiding provoking Trump again and again,” Paris said.<\/p>\n

“Talking about a rupture in the order and the other countries needing to work together to strengthen strategic autonomy, I don’t think that there’s going to be a significant cost for Canada saying that.”<\/p>\n

While there are no formal talks for Canada to pursue EU membership, leaders continue to deepen the transatlantic ties.<\/p>\n

Last June, Canada and the EU announced a new strategic partnership<\/a> to to strengthen co-operation across trade, technology, energy and security.<\/p>\n

Tuts said she hopes to see developments on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement “soon.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The EU\u2019s Ambassador to Canada, Genevi\u00e8ve Tuts, says the bloc is looking to “elevate” its relationship with this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,735,586,14038,14337,202],"class_list":{"0":"post-33632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-carney","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european-leaders","12":"tag-friedrich-merz","13":"tag-president-donald-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}