Carney: Canada and EU Working Toward Deepest Possible Partnership, Short of Accession
Key Takeaways
- •Canada and the European Union are aiming to build the closest possible partnership without Canada becoming a full member of the bloc.
- •Carney accepted an invitation from European Council President António Costa to attend European Council meetings in June, where negotiations are intended to conclude, with the arrangement's substance, scale, and scope to be determined over the coming months.
- •The initiative builds on the existing Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which has been applied provisionally between Canada and the EU since 2017.
- •ForexLive's analysis judged the comments to be a positive longer-term cooperation signal for Canada but said they contain too little detail to establish a clear near-term trading implication for the Canadian dollar.
- •USDCAD was quoted at 1.3948, near the day's low and just below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the move up from the August low at 1.39497.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that Canada and the European Union are working toward the "deepest possible partnership, short of accession," bringing Ottawa as close to the EU as possible without full membership in the bloc.
Carney said the two sides "will determine substance, scale and scope of this form of membership over coming months," and that he had accepted European Council President António Costa's invitation to attend European Council meetings in June to conclude negotiations. The two sides are not starting from scratch: Canada and the EU already trade under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), applied provisionally since 2017.
ForexLive's analysis noted Carney is signaling an ambition to deepen Canada's relationship with the EU while stopping short of accession — that is, seeking the closest possible partnership with the bloc without becoming a full member. The direction is clear, but practical details remain open, and for businesses and investors the substance of any agreement will matter more than the headline ambition.
The next barometer, according to the analysis, will be what the two sides propose over the coming months. The comments offer a longer-term cooperation signal that should be good for Canada, but contain too little detail to establish a clear near-term trading implication for the Canadian dollar. ForexLive added that the move would also irk President Trump.
On markets, USDCAD was trading near the low for the day and near the 61.8% retracement — a Fibonacci-derived level watched by technical traders — of the move up from the August low at 1.39497, with the pair quoted at 1.3948, just below that level.
Source: ForexLive
