Carney will address the European Parliament after walking out on Trump
The Canadian prime minister will sit as guest of honour at Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union on 16 September and speak to MEPs the next day. The invitation follows the collapse of U.S.–Canada talks and new 50% American tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods.
Ottawa1 min read
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Mark Carney will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 17 September after sitting as guest of honour at Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech the day before. His office said he accepted an invitation from Parliament President Roberta Metsola. Conservatives in Ottawa asked why the prime minister is flying to Alsace instead of recalling the House of Commons after trade talks with Washington collapsed.
Last week the United States put new 50 per cent tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods. Carney ordered matching duties and told Canadians that America was trying to “break us so that they can own us.” He has set a target of doubling non-U.S. exports in ten years. Europe is the second-largest economy he can turn to. Canada has already joined the EU’s Security Action for Europe programme as the first non-European member and signed a defence pact.
A speech before a debate at home
The Commons is not being recalled early. Melissa Lantsman, the Conservative deputy leader, called the Strasbourg date an insult to a country the prime minister has described as under economic attack. The Prime Minister’s Office said the trip is part of a line Carney has drawn since taking office in March 2025: more than a dozen European visits, and an argument that middle powers should work with each other rather than wait on Washington.
Metsola called the visit a chance to deepen the EU–Canada bond. Intensive trade talks with Brussels are due this autumn. The speech will not rewrite CETA. It will put a Canadian prime minister in the hemicycle at the moment he has chosen Europe as the hedge against a 50 per cent American tariff.
