The EU’s annual State of the Union (SOTEU) speech is set for 16 September. Canadian liberal Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is set to attend as a guest of honour at the most high-profile moment in the EU’s political calendar.
The Canadian liberal leader is due to address the European Parliament the day after European Commission President Von der Leyen’s annual keynote address. He will become the first foreign head of government to attend the speech, signalling far more than a conventional diplomatic appearance.
With Canada-US relations increasingly strained, it prompts a bigger question: is Canada becoming one of the EU’s newest and most important partners?
Carney has already called on middle powers to work more closely together in an increasingly multipolar world. For Canada and the EU, closer cooperation offers a way to protect interests and strengthen their collective position as the global balance of power shifts.
There is an emerging geopolitical vacuum in the North Atlantic that the EU can fill. As US protectionism and tariffs put pressure on Canada, the EU can position itself as a beacon of free trade - a major trading partner committed to open markets and predictable rules in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment.
Over the past year, Canada’s relationship with Europe has consequently moved beyond traditional diplomacy and towards closer cooperation on defence, security, critical minerals, digital and economic-security cooperation. Canada is also strategically valuable to Europe as a major like-minded G7 and NATO partner.
Alongside countries like Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom, Canada could become another example of how countries outside EU membership can still become deeply embedded in its economic and security architecture.
In an era increasingly defined by great-power rivalry, middle powers must cooperate to bolster their influence. Carney’s appearance in Strasbourg thus goes beyond a symbolic gesture: it reflects a shared interest in a stronger partnership at a time when traditional alliances are being tested.
Europe’s role in this changing international order may increasingly be to become the strategic anchor around which middle powers rally. As the old alliances are tested, the EU has a historic opportunity to build a powerful network of like-minded democracies, strengthening not only Europe’s own security, but its influence on the world stage.