By Yves Herman and Lili Bayer
STRASBOURG, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed the proposal of becoming an "associate member" of the European Union, saying Europe and Canada were stronger together and should deepen ties to protect their citizens' prosperity.
Hours earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had derided the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's overtures as "laughable" and said he would hit Europe with further tariffs if he deemed the proposal
hostile.
"Europe and Canada are each strong. Europe and Canada are even stronger together," Carney told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg.
"I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival - only with better manners," he continued. "We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law."
Both the EU and Canada have been facing stiff rivalry and pressure from Trump's administration on trade, among other matters, and from an increasingly assertive China.
TRUMP THREATS
Trump threatened late on Wednesday to take action against the EU if it moves forward with von der Leyen's proposal of associate membership for Canada.
"If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things," Trump told reporters en route to an event in North Carolina, calling the proposal "laughable".
"If it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe," he added.
The European Commission said von der Leyen's proposal — which is yet to be fleshed out and will need to be approved by EU member states to go forward — was not a hostile act.
"As our President (von der Leyen) made clear yesterday, the proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength," said Olof Gill, a European Commission spokesperson.
CARNEY SEEKS DEEPER TIES
Speaking in the European Parliament, Carney made clear he, like the EU, sought deeper ties.
"We are not fair-weather allies," he said. "We believe that our prosperity grows when it is shared."
"The objective is not self-sufficiency. It is collective resilience," he said. And referring to von der Leyen's proposal, he added: "We welcome this ambition."
Among areas in which he said Canada would want closer ties with the EU he mentioned seeking strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in critical minerals, defence industrial capacity, AI and computing, energy security, space, and payments.
He also mentioned digital trade and building more secure broadband connections between Europe and Asia via their common geography.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Mariana Hernandez, Inti Landauro; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Hugh Lawson)
