Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney discusses the possibility of associate membership in the EU

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is committed to strengthening ties with the European Union and is exploring the possibility of the country gaining associate member status with the EU. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes about this with reference to unnamed representatives of Ottawa and Brussels.

We are talking about one of the types of status provided for participants in a number of organizations, which, as a rule, implies certain restrictions for those who joined, such as the lack of voting rights. The newspaper's interlocutors, in turn, noted that the European Union, which previously did not show flexibility in matters of membership rules, is now open in discussing cooperation with Canada.

In particular, the WSJ points out, Carney regularly discusses with a number of EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, the possibility of granting Canadians the right to live and work in the European Union without visas; The parties are also negotiating decisions on the laying of submarine cables, joint construction of data centers, cloud storage and new satellite networks, as well as infrastructure for the supply of Canadian energy resources.