Canada as an “associated member” of the EU – surprising resistance comes from Germany

Canada is moving closer to the EU: In September, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised the country “associated membership” in North America. But there is resistance to this designation from Germany, France and at least six other EU states. This is reported by “Politico”, which, like WELT, is part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network.

The term is one of the central points of contention in the negotiations on a joint declaration in the run-up to the EU-Canada summit on October 29th and 30th in Montreal. This is intended to define areas for deeper cooperation between Brussels and Ottawa. Diplomats say objections are directed at the term “associated membership,” not the overall goal of closer ties.

The EU is “very interested in close cooperation with Canada,” Bernd Lange, chairman of the Trade Committee in the European Parliament, told Politico. However, he added that he would also avoid the term “associated membership”. The name leaves too much room for confusion with other forms of partnership with the EU, such as association agreements that the EU has concluded with Ukraine, among others.

According to EU diplomats, Germany is pushing hardest to remove the term from the draft declaration. In addition to France, Italy and Belgium are among the countries that expressed skepticism about the formulation.

The central concern is that the EU is giving the agreement with Canada a name before it is clear what it actually means. In their view, the term should have been defined before negotiations with Canada began, four diplomats said. Two others added that the member states concerned were angry that von der Leyen had proposed the designation without first consulting national governments.

“We have clearly put the cart before the horse,” said one diplomat. “We announce something and only then think about how we will actually structure it.”

A representative of the German Permanent Representation to the EU declined to comment. A spokesman for Canada's mission to the EU also did not respond to Politico's request for comment.

The European Commission will now hold talks and work on an acceptable wording, an EU official said. There is agreement on the goal of further strengthening the already close relationships, the official emphasized - from economic and defense cooperation to international engagement and institutional connections. “What matters is what we do, not what we call it.”

The term "associate member" is intended to reflect that the relationship between the EU and Canada is closer than Brussels' partnerships with other countries, without making Canada a member of the union, said one of the diplomats. Canada cannot become a formal member because the EU's founding treaties geographically limit membership to Europe.

This distinction is important because the existing agreements with European neighbors - including Great Britain, Switzerland and the countries of the European Economic Area - are primarily aimed at access to the EU internal market. Canada is on a different continent and is not aiming for the same model or the four fundamental freedoms of the EU, said the diplomat. The four fundamental freedoms of the EU are the free movement of goods, people, services and capital in the European internal market.

The idea is to first identify specific areas for cooperation and then decide whether new contracts or formal negotiations are needed, the same diplomat said.

Work in these six areas is expected to begin after the EU-Canada summit. Progress should be reviewed after six months. A comprehensive inventory is planned a year later at the next EU-Canada summit, which will take place in Europe.

It should be examined whether Canada has moved closer to the EU through full membership in the “Horizon Europe” research program and the Erasmus exchange program, whether it is building submarine cables together with the EU and building reserves of critical raw materials and exploring opportunities for investments by pension funds. If Canada meets these criteria, it could become the first associated member of the EU, said the diplomat.

The rapprochement with Canada is still an experiment. “Canada could be the only country” to ever become an associate member of the EU, the diplomat said.

The plan reflects that both sides are reassessing their interests. Canada has long been heavily dependent on trade with the United States. But tariffs and political pressure from Washington have increased concerns about this dependency. Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to broaden trade relations and modernize the country's infrastructure, including energy connections, which mostly run north-south.

For the EU, a closer partnership with Canada is part of broader efforts to expand ties with other countries amid growing pressure from the US, China and Russia. The summit is intended to give the partnership a more independent political framework.

Another point of contention concerns cooperation in the energy sector: Austria rejects any mention of deeper cooperation in nuclear energy, while France, Romania, Slovakia and several other countries are in favor of including it in the declaration.