Tobias Cremer, the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur on Canada, told Euronews the EU should make its offer of “associate membership” to Canada a real cooperation that goes far beyond trade. In September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Canada as the EU’s first “associate member” but offered little clue as to what the unusual status would mean in practice.
The offer comes amid geopolitical turmoil that is bringing Brussels and Ottawa closer together. Canada is in the middle of a trade war with its traditional US partner, while the EU is struggling to get Washington on side on Ukraine.
The two sides are slated to hold summit talks in Montreal at the end of next week and agreements are expected in a number of sectors including crucial raw resources and digital collaboration. “We have been great, Canada and Europe, at writing love letters to each other and saying how much we really want to work together over the last couple of months,” said Cremer, a German socialist MEP. “But I think now is really the time to start to get serious and to turn that love story into concrete commitments.
Associate membership” must entail “the closest possible partnership that the EU can offer to a non-European country and since Canada is probably the most European of non-European countries that should be very close,” he said.
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