Carney in Strasbourg denounces hybrid warfare, Trump threatens trade with the Union

The State of the Union address delivered on Wednesday, September 16, by Ursula von der Leyen, which this newspaper already reported on in this morning’s edition regarding the section on climate and the reduction of administrative burdens, has today opened a separate front: that of relations between the European Union, Canada and, by extension, the United States.

In her address, the President of the European Commission had proposed Canada as the first “associate member” of the European Union. The proposal had been known since Wednesday, but remained without direct follow-up until today, Thursday, September 17, when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney personally addressed the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

In his speech, according to reports from the European Parliament, Carney addressed the issue of hybrid warfare and the protection of Europe’s critical infrastructure. The Renew Europe group, commenting on the plenary proceedings, noted the absence of a coordinated Union response to explosive drones, sabotage and disinformation campaigns since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine — the report currently stems from a single source (Renew Europe Group); no independent confirmation available.

“Yet Europe has no real, coordinated response” — Renew Europe Group, European parliamentary group

Washington’s reaction was not long in coming. Donald Trump threatened to halt trade exchanges with the European Union in direct response to von der Leyen’s proposal on Canada. Relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated during the Trump administration, a context that makes the proposal for closer ties between Canada and the European Union particularly sensitive for the White House.

Several elements remain open. It is not clear what concrete form the “associate member” status for Canada would take, nor what timeline is envisaged for any negotiation between Brussels and Ottawa. Nor is it clear whether Trump’s threat will translate into specific trade measures against the Union or will remain, for now, a political warning without immediate follow-up.

What emerges clearly is the sequence of events over the past twenty-four hours: first von der Leyen’s announcement on Canada, then Carney’s address, which placed the proposal within a framework of shared security against hybrid threats, and finally the American reaction. Three developments that bring together, for the first time explicitly in this matter, the issue of the Union’s expanding relations toward a North American partner and that of the resilience of the trade relationship with the United States.

The next development to watch concerns the timing and manner in which the Canadian proposal will eventually be formalized within the Union’s institutional bodies, and whether Trump’s threat will result in concrete measures on transatlantic trade in the coming weeks.