In Strasbourg, with Mark Carney in the chamber, Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted to open the door for Canada to be the EU’s first associate member. BBC reported that US trade talks collapsed last month and that she said the offer was not a partnership against anyone else. Al Jazeera said she wanted to move from trade to an alliance for the future. The speech did not spell out how membership would work.
In the Financial Times account von der Leyen, with Mark Carney in the European Parliament chamber, said she wanted to take the relationship with Canada as high as possible and to work on opening the door for Canada to be the EU’s first associate member. The Commission president’s wording is not a Council negotiating mandate or a signed treaty text. The pool account notes that CETA has still not been ratified in 10 member states.[1]
BBC News said the EU chief backed a plan for Canada to become an associate member after a breakdown in relations with the United States and President Donald Trump. Trade talks between Canada and the US collapsed last month. von der Leyen said the offer was not a partnership against anyone else. She listed manufacturing, technology, AI, defence, energy, critical minerals and economic security and did not spell out how membership would work.[2]
Al Jazeera reported that von der Leyen said it was time to move from a trading relationship to an alliance for the future. It said Mark Carney would address the European Parliament on Thursday. It noted that an earlier Ukraine track in the same plan had a cold reception in Kyiv because Kyiv wants full membership. All three pages describe the same Strasbourg offer.[3], [1], [2]
