Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome. Welcome to a historic day. President von der Leyen, President Costa, on behalf of all Canadians, I’d like to thank you for your vision, for your leadership, and I’d like to thank the commissioners and your teams for your focus and your delivery.

So, we are here in Montréal. And for centuries, Montréal has been a bridge between Canada and Europe, as evidenced by the languages spoken here, the cultures that coexist, and its motto, Concordia Salus. And it was in a spirit of harmony that the summit took place; with our values, our interests, and our intentions in harmony. In a world in turmoil, this harmony is a source of security, prosperity, and well-being for our peoples.

The world’s becoming more dangerous and divided. Our societies are being shaken by new storms: the upheaval caused by climate change, the erosion of democratic norms, the weaponisation of trade. 

The multilateral institutions on which we used to rely have become weaker. It is now harder to reconcile sovereignty with openness. Economic integration has become a weapon and tariffs, leverage. At the same time, technology is changing the nature of war, the structures of economies, and the ability of states to govern. 

In Strasbourg, I said that in this ferocious storm, a single tree may fall, but not the forest because, underground, the roots of an oak are intertwined with those of neighbouring trees. They share nutrients, build on each other’s strengths, and create a resilient, self-sufficient ecosystem. That is the lesson we must learn at this moment.

Together, Canada and the European Union are anchoring the ground, anchoring our ground to uphold our values while forming a protective canopy under which our citizens can all thrive. 

Today, and the process it launches, is about opportunity. Opportunity for our youth, for our artists, for our researchers, for our businesses. It’s about democracy, protecting against foreign interference and social media manipulation while supporting human rights, freedom, and the rule of law. This is about sustainability, protecting our oceans, our forests, and our Arctic while developing practical, scalable solutions to climate change. And, above all, it’s about sovereignty, about being able to live our lives as we wish. 

Today, the European Union and Canada are launching the Alliance for the Future, a new partnership of nations that will leverage our strategic capabilities and a variable geometry of like-minded nations to address common issues. The Alliance will focus on increasing our collective sovereignty and resilience in areas such as AI, energy, critical minerals, quantum, and beyond. And, in parallel, and at the foundation, we are working towards the deepest possible partnership, short of accession because of our geography, with Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member.

In the coming months, we will determine the full substance, scale, and scope of this new form of membership. The presidents and I will meet periodically to track progress. In March, we will convene the College of the European Commissioners and our federal Cabinet here, in Canada, to advance this work. And, in June, I have accepted President Costa’s invitation to attend the European Council meetings, where we intend by that point to conclude these negotiations and discussions.

And I want to spend a few moments, if I may, to talk about what this means for Canadians, and the parallel points, of course, hold for Europeans. Well, it means more opportunity, greater affordability and, yes, deeper sovereignty. Canada being an associate member of the European Union creates opportunity that starts with our young people. We’ll begin negotiations to expand our participation in Erasmus+, Europe’s world-renowned student and skills exchange program. 

So, what does that mean? It means, through this program, a Canadian student can pursue their studies in Barcelona, just as easily as they could at McGill. It means an apprentice welder in Manitoba can complete their placement with an employer in Italy, bringing new skills back home. 

For our researchers, it means access to JUPITER, one of the most powerful supercomputers ever built. For example, JUPITER can process in a single day a computation that would take six months on the most powerful research supercomputer here in Canada. For a researcher fighting cancer, this means getting an answer tomorrow instead of next spring. 

Canada will enter into negotiations to participate in the next generation of Horizon Europe programs. This participation will allow our researchers to pool their resources, collaborate on cutting-edge technologies, and take advantage of our world-class research institutes and universities. By pooling our resources, we bring more talent together and we pave the way for more discoveries. 

For our entrepreneurs, the Digital Trade Agreement that you just saw signed, combined with seamless payments, will make it easier to sell online in Europe. So, a business owner in Manitoba or a lobster harvester in Prince Edward Island will clear customs faster, getting their products to European markets. A tech start-up in Vancouver will have a smoother path to customers in Berlin. Bottom line: less red tape, more growth, more opportunity.

Second, affordability. 

This Alliance will allow us to connect our financial infrastructure directly to Europe’s fast-payment system. So, transactions that used to require weeks of waiting and redundant administrative procedures will now be done easily.

We’ve concluded as well negotiations for a new Canada-EU Competition Agreement, which will promote competition in sectors from consumer goods to technology while cracking down on anti-competitive practices online. We’ll explore opening our markets to each other’s banks, insurers, and fintechs. More competition means better, more affordable service for families. And most fundamentally, all Canadians will benefit from more ready access to a wide range of European goods and services. 

Thirdly, today is about sovereignty. We’re building the industries and infrastructure that underwrite our collective security.

In March, Canada became the first non-European country to join the SAFE initiative. Right here, in Montréal, Canadian workers at Marconi and Galvion are manufacturing military equipment for our allies in Poland and Latvia. The GoldenEye is manufactured here as part of a partnership between Saab and Bombardier, supporting 3,000 Canadian jobs. And this is just the beginning. 

It goes in the other direction, of course. Europe already buys Canadian water bombers and, as part of this agreement, we are backstopping a significant increase – Canada is – a significant increase in water bomber production. De Havilland will soon open a second production line Wheatland County, Alberta. The company will significantly increase the production of this world-class aircraft to help Canadians and Europeans fight increasingly devastating fires.

Canada is already establishing itself as an energy supplier of choice for Europe. Thanks to new supply agreements between Ksi Lisims, SEFE, and Uniper, low-carbon LNG from British Columbia will power homes and industries in Germany.

Through our new Alliance, through our new partnership, Canada’s launching negotiations to join Galileo, Europe’s positioning navigation and timing system, and this will strengthen the reliability of GPS services across Canada – very much including the Arctic – building our resilience with our most trusted partner.

We’re deepening cooperation on semiconductors. We’re taking the first steps towards new transatlantic and potentially trans-Arctic data cables. The point is: we’re leveraging and complementing each other’s strengths, and building our resilience, creating more choice, ensuring that we are not beholden to others.

We are building a transatlantic arch between Canada and the European Union, an arch built on partnership, balance, and mutual respect. And, like all great arches, its strength comes from the support each side gives the other. The more we use it, the stronger it becomes. The stronger it becomes, the more opportunities it creates and the better our lives become. 

This Alliance is built for people: the student in Edmonton who wants to study in Stockholm, the cancer researcher in Saskatoon who needs her answer today, not next spring, the Vancouver start-up with new customers in Berlin, the sovereignty for all of our citizens. Sovereignty gives us more choice, the freedom to live our lives as we choose on our own terms, the ambition to build a better, more prosperous world for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children. 

Today, we move towards associate membership for Canada, and we launch a new alliance for the future that will deliver now and in the future with like-minded nations. We’re just getting started.

And with that, it’s my pleasure to hand to President Costa.