Mark Carney (left) walks alongside European Parliament President Roberta Metsola (centre) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right). Photo: EPA

Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday she wanted to work on "opening the door" for Canada, which would involve closer ties on various key sectors.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney last week spoke of seeking a "unique alliance" with the EU. The country currently faces tense relations with the US, compounded by an intensifying dispute over trade.

Without mentioning US President Donald Trump by name, von der Leyen said offering Canada some sort of EU membership was "not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength".

She added: "Partnerships are a strategic choice for Europe. But they also respond to the fracture in the international rules-based system".

Carney was in attendance at the annual keynote speech in Strasbourg, and is due to address the parliament on Thursday.

Trade talks between Canada and the US collapsed last month, sparking a series of new tariff measures. Trump's repeated talk of making Canada a "51st state" has also helped to fuel the feud between the North American neighbours.

Von der Leyen told the EU's State of the Union address that the bloc and Canada "see the world with the same eyes", including on topics ranging from AI, to climate change and geopolitics.

"And we have stood together: on Ukraine, on defence, on raw materials and on supply chains. But above all... Europe and Canada believe in democracy."

She did not give specific details on how any Canadian membership would work, but listed manufacturing, technology, AI, defence, energy, critical minerals and economic security as key areas for cooperation.

Both she and other European leaders have found a reliable ally in Carney as they deal with similar problems.

In particular, they have faced Trump's aggressive use of tariffs and his threat to annex Greenland which is a sovereign territory of EU member Denmark.

But "associate membership" of the EU does not currently exist and the process, if agreed, could take years.

Earlier this year, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested - to a mixed reaction - that Ukraine could be granted this new status.

Some countries in the western Balkans including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia are already on the long road towards full EU membership.