Partners In De-Risking:Eu-Canada Relations In Times Of Transatlantic Drift

This GPC policy brief analyses how the European Union (EU) and Canada have deepened their partnership this past year, adding next-generation security and defence cooperation to their long-standing free trade agreement. Both partners face similar strategic challenges, particularly amid the shifting stances of their most important ally, the United States, when it comes to trade and security. For the EU, the partnership is part of a broader effort to enhance strategic autonomy and reduce dependence on Washington—what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls "Europe’s independence moment".

For Canada, diversifying away from its southern neighbour represents a major policy shift, given that three-quarters of its exports go to the US. The EU-Canada partnership also illustrates a growing effort by Brussels to build more extensive partnerships with like-minded middle powers, including non-EU NATO members such as Norway and the United Kingdom. Beyond trade and defence, the relationship increasingly focuses on strengthening democratic resilience, aimed at enhancing collective capacity to navigate an increasingly unpredictable world of great power competition.