The Canadian prime minister has instructed his special envoy to Europe, John Hannaford, to scope out the most ambitious possibilities short of full membership in the bloc or its single market, one official confirmed.
Critical raw materials
The EU has a growing appetite for critical raw materials — used in everything from batteries and solar panels to mobile phones. Canada has abundant reserves of copper, molybdenum, aluminum, nickel, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements, as well as the mines, smelters and refineries capable of processing them.
“Canada is of course the huge source of critical minerals,” EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told POLITICO. “Can we work on common projects? Can we gather enough investment and funding for some of these projects?”
That is a position shared by the lawmakers Carney will address next week. Valérie Hayer, a French MEP and chair of the centrist Renew group, said that “as Canada and Europe both look to diversify, this is the moment to intensify mutual trade. This requires fresh thinking and joint investment in infrastructure.”
Education and cultural exchange
One relatively straightforward step would be to bring Canada further into Erasmus+, the EU’s flagship education and training program, which is already open to countries including Iceland, the U.K. and Norway.
Nela Riehl, chair of the Parliament’s Culture Committee, told POLITICO she expects von der Leyen to fully integrate Canada into the scheme. Student exchanges already exist, but “there’s even room for more” because it would carry political weight, she said.