EU capitals stall von der Leyen’s “associate membership” offer to Canada
Germany, Italy, France and Greece objected to the term in a draft joint declaration. The EU-Canada summit in Montreal opens on Thursday.
Archive image · Photo: Lea-Kim (talk · contribs) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
A dispute over European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal of “associate membership” for Canada has stalled the joint declaration for the EU-Canada summit. The text was due to be adopted on Tuesday by silent procedure, but Germany, Italy, France and Greece objected before the deadline, Euronews reported. The office of European Council President António Costa is now expected to circulate a new version for ambassadors to discuss on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Von der Leyen floated the idea in September in her State of the Union speech, at which Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was guest of honor. Diplomats said capitals had not been consulted in advance. The term does not appear in the EU treaties and could create legal uncertainty and raise expectations among other non-EU countries, diplomats quoted by Euronews warned.
There is broad agreement on closer cooperation in defense, critical raw materials, energy, trade and border security; the dispute is over the label. Carney prefers to speak of an “alliance of the future” and said what matters is the substance. The Montreal summit takes place on Oct. 29–30.