Up And Down Beirut
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has laid out her vision for what an “associate membership” status for Canada to the EU would look like as officials gather in Montreal to discuss closer ties.
It is “a partnership that comes close to membership than anything we have done before,” she said on Thursday’s remarks at the two-day Canada-EU summit.
She added it is a type of relationship that would be open “only to our closest partners outside of Europe who are ready to open a new frontier together.”
It includes close alignment on governance and policies, and partnering in research and innovation.
For decades, Canada-EU summits took place without much fanfare – but that’s not the case for this year’s meeting in the Canadian city.
Thursday and Friday’s summit is being closely watched for details on how Canada and the European bloc deepen their ties.
Von der Leyen first proposed “opening the door” to Canada last month for what she called an “associate membership” – a status that does not currently exist.
The overture came after Prime Minister Carney addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, telling EU lawmakers that Canada and Europe were “stronger together” in the face of “geopolitical rupture”.
