European Union no longer speaks of "associated membership" for Canada
The European Union has removed mentions of "associated membership" from the latest draft of a joint declaration, which is planned for adoption following the EU-Canada summit in Montreal on Thursday and Friday, October 29-30, writes Euronews.
In the updated document, circulated to member states on Wednesday, the previous wording was replaced with "even closer cooperation" between the EU and Canada. The change occurred at the request of Germany, which opposed the idea of associated membership, as it is not provided for in the EU's statutory documents.
In recent days, the office of the President of the European Council, António Costa, held intense consultations with EU countries, primarily with Germany, which insisted on changing the wording in the political declaration.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed considering the possibility of associated membership for Canada in her annual "State of the Union" address to the European Parliament last month. She invited Canada to become the first country with such status.
The initial draft declaration was circulated to member states on Tuesday. The document was considered under a procedure where it is deemed adopted if no country expresses direct objections. However, Germany, France, Italy, and Greece opposed the original version.
Germany most strongly opposed the term "associated membership," even though Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself had previously proposed granting a similar status to Ukraine to guarantee Kyiv security assurances before its full accession to the EU.
Berlin believes that it is first necessary to define what "closer cooperation" with Canada will specifically entail.
According to the German side, the package of agreements should not be forced to fit a term that does not exist in EU treaties and whose use could have serious legal consequences.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney prefers the phrasing "alliance for the future." He states that he wants to focus on the content of the agreements and leaves the choice of terminology to the discretion of the European Union.
The latest version of the declaration has again been circulated to member states for approval under the same procedure. The document will be considered adopted if EU states do not express objections by Thursday afternoon.
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