Von der Leyen’s Canada ‘associate membership’ spurs battle of words with EU capitals

Germany, Italy and Greece objected to a draft EU-Canada declaration that cites von der Leyen’s ‘associate membership’ offer, as the member states fear legal uncertainty and a precedent for other third countries ahead of the Montreal summit on Thursday and Friday. Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a bombshell offer to Canada: to become the first EU “associate member”. Now the term is proving hard to swallow for several member states, including her own Germany. Ahead of the EU-Canada summit, meant to chart what many see as the closest partnership between the bloc and a non-member country, European capitals led by Berlin have pushed back against a term that has yet to be clearly defined, five EU diplomats told Euronews. “The main concern is that this is unknown terminology, it might bring up legal uncertainty and expectations from other third countries,” one of the diplomats said. “This was not communicated previously from the Commission. We don’t know what we are talking about.” Last week, a revised draft of the joint declaration explicitly mentioned the notion, vowing regular exchanges with Canadian authorities on major policy and regulatory initiatives and to define the full scope of the partnership at the 2027 summit. Naming the term outright in what would be the first EU official document of major political significance to include it has drawn strong pushback from Germany, Italy and Greece, and scepticism from other countries, including France. A new draft circulated on Monday evening added wording that distanced member states from the concept, specifying that it was “put forward by the European Commission”. The text was due to be adopted on Tuesday through the so-called silent procedure, under which a document passes unless a member state objects. Germany, Italy and Greece all raised objections before the deadline. The office of European Council President António Costa is now expected to circulate a new version, with another round of talks at ambassador level on Wednesday, before the summit opens in Montreal on Thursday. Von der Leyen floated the idea of offering associate membership to Canada in her annual State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in September, with Prime Minister Mark Carney as guest of honour. The idea had been put to the Canadians before, but it was never discussed with member states or within the Commission, catching capitals including Paris and Berlin off guard. Even Carney did not seem fully sold on the nomenclature, preferring to call it an “alliance of the future”. “What matters is the substance,” he said when asked whether he was comfortable with the term. With governments now finalising the joint declaration, to be adopted at the summit on Thursday and Friday, that initial lack of consultation is coming back to haunt the bid. For Berlin, the main issue is that member states should first define what the cooperation package contains, and only then agree the terms for the declaration, not the other way around. There is broad consensus on seeking closer cooperation with Canada in areas such as defence, critical raw materials, energy, trade and border security. It is the associate membership label that has drawn scrutiny. Others took aim at its legal implications, arguing these must be carefully studied before the term enters a political declaration. “It does not mean anything, it is not in the treaties,” a second EU diplomat said, adding that “we want to find a way to make the concept work.” Von der Leyen is not new to launching new ideas and forging ahead with initiatives without consulting with the member states. In 2023, she announced a migration deal with Tunisia and was criticised for lacking a formal mandate to do so. “In the case of Tunisia, member states fully agreed with the objective of reducing arrivals, but they had to say that they did not 100% agree with the way it was done. It is a bit the same case here,” a third diplomat told Euronews. For this diplomat, the EU should not view the label as merely institutional, but as a way of packaging what would otherwise inevitably look like a sector-by-sector technical exercise in bringing Canada closer to the bloc. For von der Leyen’s critics, she has a habit of making grand announcements before figuring out the implications. For her supporters, her strength is staying ahead of the curve, setting out a political vision and letting the bureaucratic machinery do the rest. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was the first to propose associate membership, but pitched it as a way to anchor Ukraine to the EU, with security guarantees, as Kyiv progressed through the accession process. Applying it to Canada carries a very different connotation: it would offer a blueprint for the closest possible partnership with a non-European country that could never join the bloc. “A lot of other countries want to come closer to the EU, but we don’t know what to offer them. Whatever deal we reach with Canada might be an important motivator for others,” an EU official told Euronews.