'Associate member' or just close friends with benefits? Question swirls during Canada-EU summit - National Post

News ‘Associate member’ or just close friends with benefits? Question swirls during Canada-EU summit Share Close Share this article

Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks ahead of the 21st EU-Canada summit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on October 29, 2026. Canada and the European Union will craft "a new chapter" in their alliance at the EU-Canada summit that opens today, the EU chief said, as they navigate uncertain relations with the United States. (Photo by Alexis Aubin / AFP via Getty Images) (ALEXIS AUBIN / AFP via Getty Images) By Christopher Nardi October 29, 2026 at 2:02 p.m. Last Updated: October 30, 2026 at 12:37 p.m. MONTREAL — Is Canada going to become the first ever “associate member” of the European Union, or will it just be a really close friend with benefits?

The nagging nomenclature question swirled around the first day of this year’s two-day Canada-EU Summit that kicked off in Montreal on Thursday.

For some (like Prime Minister Mark Carney), the issue is purely semantic and “doesn’t matter”. Canada and the bloc of 27 countries are working for a closer relationship than ever before — an “alliance for the future”, if you will.

For others, like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, it appears that creating a new “associate member” category for Canada within the EU — “association without accession”, as she described in Thursday — is a battle she appears bent on leading. Her statements show she’s pushing to have Canada come as close as possible to becoming an EU member, without actually becoming a member.

She was the first to use the new term (which is not a legal category of membership in the EU) during a speech with Carney in Strasbourg last week.

And finally, there are those who balk at the term. Multiple reports out of Europe say a half-dozen or so European governments, but Germany in particular, fought back against the use of the new designation. They argued that there is no clear legal basis for associate membership or expressed concerns that if Canada was granted the position, other non-EU countries would want it too.

In May, Germany had unsuccessfully pushed for Ukraine to be designated an associate member last spring as an interim step while the Eastern European country seeks full membership.

Because associate membership of the EU does not exist, it’s hard to say what such a title could even mean for Canada. Some, including Conservatives, have worried that it could bind Canada to the EU’s legendarily heavy regulatory regime, and Carney has insisted that’s not going to happen.

But it appears the debate over the term “associate member” is taking up a lot of time and energy within the EU, and now during the summit in Canada.

The push-and-pull between proponents and opponents was in full force during negotiations between EU countries and Canada for a final summit statement.

EU officials briefing reporters ahead of the trip even admitted the term “associate member” was divisive within the union, though they stressed that all 27 members wanted much closer ties with Canada.

But by Wednesday, it appeared that opponents to the term had won out. In a draft statement circulated on the eve of this week’s summit, the words “associate member” had disappeared.

Instead, that draft document (which could still be changed) referred to an “ever-closer association” between the EU and Canada that will be fully defined by next year’s bilateral summit.

But Thursday morning during a speech in Montreal, von der Leyen was back at it.

She told attendees gathered by the C.D. Howe Institute that the Union and Canada can work together on “everything” as she renewed her call for the country to join the bloc as an “associate member”.

“Of course, Canada cannot become a full-fledged member of the European Union because of geography. But we both want to bring our relationship to the highest level possible, and this is why we are discussing the idea of Canada becoming the first associate member of the European Union,” she told the crowd.

“It is an association without accession,” she added while arguing that Canada and the EU “can build a partnership that comes closer to membership than anything we’ve done before.”

She summarized associate membership as better alignment on policies like AI, climate, energy and security, shared governance work between both parliaments and courts, and more integration in certain EU ventures like student-mobility program Erasmus+ or its supercomputing infrastructure for AI.

“We are once again called upon to work on new frontiers together, because the current moment in history calls for it. We are witnessing a deeper decay in international order,” she said. “We can no longer let ourselves be shackled by the limits of the old world order.”

But von der Leyen’s doubling down on associate membership for Canada is what caught reporters’ and summit observers’ attention. It appeared the title was back on the table.

Asked about it Thursday afternoon, Carney — who has scarcely ever said that Canada sought associate membership — was more dismissive.

The name doesn’t matter. The label is irrelevant. He said the important part is that Canada and the EU are on the same page when it comes to what they want: a deeper relationship amongst allies trying to boost their military, trade, AI, compute and research partnerships.

“This new alliance is not a marketing exercise. The name doesn’t matter. What matters is that the complementarities of our two jurisdictions strengthen our sovereignty,” he said.

But then, sitting next to von der Leyen and European Council head Antonio Costa during a roundtable with Canadian and European businesses a few hours later, Carney sided with von der Leyen.

“We’re here because we share a common mission. We’re in the process of forging a new alliance, an Alliance for the Future, with Canada as an associate member,” he said.