Canada is an associate member of the EU, a non-Treaty status

Canada as the first associate member of the EU. This is the proposal formulated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and presented today to the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carneyguest at the European Chamber in Strasbourg for the speech on the State of the Union.

The Treaties do not provide for the role of ‘associate member’ and therefore it would, in fact, be one special status for Ottawa.

Canada is an associate member of the EU

In her speech, the president of the European executive proposed an approach of the blockade on the North American country, at a time of strong tensions in relations between Ottawa e Washington.  And after the Canadian Prime Minister himself had put forward the idea of ​​creating “a unique alliance” with the European Union.

A strengthened alliance, let’s gobeyond Ceta, the comprehensive trade agreement between the EU and Canada, which has eliminated many trade barriers between the parties and which is applied, provisionallydal 2017.

“The cultural, historical and personal ties that unite us are deeply rooted in the fabric of our societies”, he underlined von der Leyen talking about collaboration in the AI ​​sector, on the fight against climate change, on the defense of the Arctic and on major geopolitical issues. “We have made a common front on Ukraine, on defence, on raw materials, on supply chains. But above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy and that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the one who raises his voice the loudest, but to all of us“, underlined the President of the European Commission.

A partnership to “pool forces”

In von der Leyen’s vision, “an Alliance for the future” it should be capable of creating a common space of prosperity and economic security with collaborations also in the technology sector, to build and improve the industrial base for defense, as well as on critical minerals and economic security.

A partnership, concluded von der Leyen, which is not intendedor “against others”, me onr “to pool forces”. What this is about, specifically, is actually not yet clear in Brussels.

A status outside the Treaties

The EU treaties provide for various forms of associations with non-member countries, but not this one special status Therefore, a European official underlined, to move forward on this path the EU Commission should present a concrete proposal in this regardwhether in the next few weeks or the next few months.

Norway and Switzerland, for example, are not part of the European Union, but have access to the European single market, which allows the free movement of goodsand also collaborate on joint initiatives in defense matters. Oslo is in the single market through the European Economic Area (EEA), together with Iceland and Liechtenstein, while Bern through a network of bilateral agreements. For now, community sources specify, what matters is the strong political message of von der Leyen in an ever-changing geopolitical situation.

The proposal from the president of the European executive is somewhat reminiscent of one from the German chancellor Friedrich Merz, which last May had put forward the idea of ​​an associated membership for Ukraine that gave Kiev access to European decision-making bodies without the right to vote or a dedicated portfolio. But Ukraine is formally nominated upon entry into the EU.

The situation is different in Canada, a country geographically non-European (essential condition for requesting membership), but which has founding principles in common with the Union such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

“We share an ocean, a set of values, a vision of the world. Now we will also build a shared future”, ha chiosato von der Leyen.