Montreal summit: EU and Canada forge an 'alliance for the future'
Von der Leyen speaks of "association without accession," Carney of Canada as an associate member. Agreements on digital trade and supercomputers are due on Friday.
Archive image · Photo: European Commission Audiovisual Service / Photographer : Christophe Licoppe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Montreal for a two-day summit. "We will build an alliance for the future, and we start with Canada," von der Leyen said. She said Canada cannot become a full EU member because of geography, which is why the idea of making it the first associate member is being discussed, an "association without accession." Carney said "the nomenclature doesn't matter."
According to broadcaster CTV, the term "associate membership" does not appear in the draft summit statement, and Germany's ambassador to Canada acknowledged it had caused friction within the bloc. European officials said the concept would be worked out next year and put forward for endorsement at the next summit. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas signed a host country agreement.
Costa said a digital trade agreement, which he called "a CETA for a digital world," would be approved on Friday. Von der Leyen said Canada would join Europe's network of 12 supercomputers. According to Reuters, the joint declaration provides for a feasibility study on Canadian liquefied natural gas exports to Europe and for young Canadians and Europeans to be able to work across the Atlantic. Canada is already the only non-European country in the EU's SAFE defense program.