In a major bid to deepen ties with Ottawa amid growing trade tensions with Washington, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday invited Canada to become the European Union’s first associate member.She proposed a new partnership spanning trade, defence, technology, energy and critical minerals.“I invite Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen said on Wednesday during her annual State of the European Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, according to ANI.Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, who was seated in the front row, responded by embracing von der Leyen as lawmakers applauded. He is due to address the European parliament on Thursday.Von der Leyen said Brussels wanted to take the relationship beyond the existing Canada-EU trade agreement, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).“We will move from CETA to an Alliance for the Future. To create a common prosperity and economic security space,” she said.The proposed arrangement would cover areas including advanced manufacturing, technology, defence production, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cybersecurity and the Arctic.“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” von der Leyen said. “In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”She also pointed to what she described as shared democratic principles between Canada and the 27-member bloc.“Above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy,” von der Leyen said. “We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest, but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work.”The proposal would not amount to full EU membership. The bloc’s treaties restrict full membership to European states, making an associate-member arrangement a possible new model for closer cooperation with a non-European country.A Canadian official familiar with the discussions previously told The Associated Press that Ottawa was examining an arrangement that could include closer mobility between Canada and Europe, including possible visa-free rights to live and work in EU countries.Carney’s office backed the push for closer ties, saying Canada was working with the EU “to strengthen our sovereignty”. Ottawa has also supported expanding the relationship beyond CETA.The initiative comes as Canada seeks to diversify its economic partnerships. Around 70 per cent of Canadian exports go to the US, leaving the country particularly exposed to changes in Washington’s trade policy.Carney has argued that middle powers need to strengthen cooperation rather than negotiate separately with dominant economies.“When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered,” Carney said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.“This is not sovereignty,” he added. “It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.”Canada has already become the first non-European country to join the EU’s €150 billion SAFE defence procurement programme, giving Canadian companies access to joint purchasing arrangements.The details of the proposed associate membership remain unclear.