Macron backs Canada as EU associate member as Carney turns toward Europe– abcnews.com

TORONTO — French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday backed a proposal for Canada to become the European Union’s first associate member as he and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney moved to deepen strategic ties spanning space, defense, energy and business.

The leaders met in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a French territory just off Newfoundland’s coast where France and Canada are separated by only a few kilometers (miles) — a striking setting for Canada’s accelerating turn toward Europe as relations with the United States deteriorate.

“We are very much in favor of that agenda of closer ties with the European Union, as an associate member of the Union, as the president said, and as a full-fledged member of the European community,” Macron said in French while standing alongside Carney.

“Only a few kilometers separate Canada and France at their closest point. Our values are even closer,” Carney said in French.

Carney said the countries will task their space agencies and defense ministries to develop and share infrastructure, including launch systems and ground-based reception facilities. They also agreed to expand cooperation in energy, telecommunications, climate resilience and economic development.

Macron’s endorsement comes days after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EU’s first associate member. Carney embraced the prospect and has argued that deeper ties with Europe would give Canada more alternatives and make it less vulnerable to economic coercion by any single country.