EU and Canada to unveil new partnership, but it may not be ‘associate membership,’ says ambassador – POLITICO

Ottawa and Brussels will announce a comprehensive set of partnerships within the coming year, but the shape of the future relationship is still up for discussion, Canada’s ambassador to the EU said Tuesday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced during her State of the Union speech last week that the door would be open to Canada becoming “the first associate member” of the EU. But Ottawa has played down the formal nature of that arrangement.

“It was enormously gratifying for Canada to hear that from the president because I think it reflects the fact that Europeans see Canada in the same way that we see Europe,” Jonathan Wilkinson told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook Live Summit.