EU, Canada to ‘withstand shocks together’ with new alliance
AI
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EU → withstand → alliance
EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa held talks with Canada’s Mark Carney in Montreal on Oct 30 to finalise a new partnership in a world dominated by the United States and China.
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Leyen → hold → States
The two parties are set to unveil a series of deals – from critical minerals to artificial intelligence – and lay the groundwork for a broader alliance open to other democracies seeking to better navigate global trade tensions.
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parties → set → tensions
“It means affordability, more competition, more choice, easier access.
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It → mean → affordability
It means opportunity,” Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said of closer cooperation with the European Union, as he arrived at the talks.
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he → mean → talks
“And it means, at its base, sovereignty, greater resilience, ability to withstand shocks together.”
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it → mean → shocks
Already sharing a free trade agreement, Canada and the EU have sought to move closer together since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House upended relations with Washington’s traditional allies.
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return → share → allies
Both Canada and the EU have been hit with US tariffs and territorial threats.
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Canada → hit → tariffs
Von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said Canada could not become a “full-fledged” EU member due to its geographical location, but said the bloc wanted to bring it “as close as possible”.
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bloc → say → it
A senior EU official explained the new relationship would be unique to Canada.
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relationship → explain → Canada
It entails aligning policies, such as on climate and artificial intelligence, Canada joining some EU programmes, and creating a stable governance framework, the official said.
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official → entail → framework
The partners are expected to kick off with a series of deals on Oct 30.
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partners → expect → Oct
Critical minerals are a key focus of the two-day summit which officially began on the evening of Oct 29.
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which → begin → Oct
They are needed for green technologies such as batteries and wind turbines that Europe sources mostly from China but are also in plentiful stock in Canada.
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Europe → need → Canada
But Canada needs massive infrastructure investment to jump-start its mining industry.
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Canada → need → industry
An agreement allowing the European Investment Bank to back Canadian critical mineral projects is expected to be unveiled at the summit.
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Bank → allow → summit
‘Alliance for the Future’
Brussels and Ottawa also want to collaborate on AI, a field where they are playing catch-up with the United States and China.
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they → want → States
Europe is ready to open its supercomputing infrastructure to Canadian researchers, industry and start-ups, von der Leyen said.
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Leyen → open → researchers
On Oct 29, Ottawa announced a CAN$1.6 billion (S$1.4 billion) investment in the Canadian AI firm Cohere.
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Ottawa → announce → firm
The company has recently partnered with Germany’s Aleph Alpha in a move that Carney said was an example of what Europe and Canada could do together.
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Europe → partner → what
“We are not waiting for the future of AI to be decided somewhere else by those we don’t know or by those we don’t trust,” Carney said.
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Carney → wait → those
A digital trade deal allowing faster and cheaper online transactions is also in the offering.
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deal → allow → offering
The two parties should also work towards Canada’s participation in EU initiatives like the Erasmus programme, which allows university students to spend a semester abroad, and the Galileo satellite programme – an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS).
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students → work → System
The summit will additionally establish the basis for a larger “Alliance for the Future” open to other “trusted partners” such as Japan, South Korea or Australia, the senior EU official said.
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official → establish → Japan
This idea is to form a “common space for economic prosperity” and better coordinate trade policies such as tariffs to avoid mutual harm, the official said.
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official → form → harm
“There is always a risk that inadvertently you hit one of your partners with your economic measures,” the official noted.
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official → be → measures
The Aporia
