Dan McTeague is president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.After all the hubbub about it, the EU has backed away from giving Canada “associate membership.” Several governments balked at the phrase, and the draft Montreal summit statement now promises an “ever closer association” instead.That must be embarrassing for the europhile Prime Minister Mark Carney, though he says the label doesn’t matter. And, really, he’s right. The words might be different, but the goal hasn’t changed. He wants to bring Canada into a much closer political and regulatory relationship with Brussels.Defenders of the prime minister might say he has little choice. Canada is in rough economic shape. Statistics Canada reports we lost 68,000 jobs in September, following 42,000 in August. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has cut its 2026 growth forecast to 0.9%.High energy prices are driving up the cost of everything. We pay more to fill our cars and heat our homes, but also for groceries, since energy is essential to growing, processing, and transporting food.But why is it the prime minister’s priority to bind ourselves to a political body in even worse economic shape than we’re in? Germany, the EU’s largest economy, has lost nearly 500,000 industrial jobs since 2019. And across Europe, high energy costs have contributed to a prolonged struggle to maintain industrial competitiveness.The cause isn’t mysterious. Europe has spent years pursuing a net-zero agenda familiar to Canadians: carbon tax, EV mandates, restrictions on conventional energy production, and a forced transition away from dependable, affordable energy. Energy-intensive industries are moving elsewhere, investment is fleeing, and households are paying the price.Meanwhile, European politicians lecture citizens about their energy consumption — remember the freakout over air-conditioning use during the heat wave in France this past summer — even as households struggle to keep their homes livable. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently warned fellow EU leaders that if they don’t fix energy costs, “the citizens will chase us with pitchforks.”.Yet this is precisely the path Carney has spent much of his career promoting. He served as the UN’s Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), helping advance a financial system that redirects capital away from natural resource projects and toward “green” energy. It’s almost designed to make energy more expensive.And look where that leads. Europe’s green agenda has made it more dependent on China, which dominates solar panel and electric vehicle supply chains while building new coal-fired power plants at home every year.A Canada remade in Europe’s image would risk the same outcome. It could also weaken our relationship with the United States, our largest customer, while putting further pressure on Canada’s oil and gas industry, the golden goose that pays for so much of what Canadians take for granted.Of course, there are good reasons to expand access to European markets. But we already have a major trade agreement with the EU: the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). It has been provisionally in force since 2017, although 10 EU countries have yet to ratify it. Ottawa would be better off securing full ratification rather than inventing new forms of EU membership.We could also take Germany and other European countries up on their desire to buy Canadian natural gas. None of that requires membership or “closer association.” We don’t need Brussels imposing its regulations on Canadian energy, agriculture, and digital policy as a cost of doing business. A trade partner doesn’t need a seat in our regulatory house.These EU discussions distract from what should be the government’s overriding concern: Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. They need lower energy costs, more affordable groceries, better-paying jobs, and an economy that actually produces things. Wining and dining big shots from France and Germany won’t deliver any of that. Nor will importing the very energy policies that have helped undermine Europe’s industrial competitiveness.Canadians don’t need an “ever closer association” with Europe’s economic decline. We need affordable, reliable energy, a government that allows our most productive sectors to thrive, and sensible trade policies that put Canadian workers and consumers first.Let Brussels fix Brussels. We need to focus on Canada.Dan McTeague is president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.
