Brussels and Ottawa are to lay the groundwork for an ever-closer partnership at a two-day summit in Montreal, as they navigate uncertain ties with the United States and China.
“We both want to bring our relationship to the highest level possible,” von der Leyen said, doubling down on the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union’s “first associate member” despite an intra-EU squabble over the term.
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“Our idea is simple: it is an ‘association without accession’,” she told an event organized by a research institute.
Von der Leyen first suggested Canada could become an “associate member” last month, but the title doesn’t exist in EU treaties.
Some member states led by Germany successfully pushed to drop the term from a joint summit statement, after prolonged wrangling which threatens to take the shine away from the Montreal talks.
Canada and the EU have both been rattled by US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump’s tariffs have hammered the Canadian economy, while the president’s repeated annexation threats have caused outrage.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has warned relations will not return to a pre-Trump normal and told Canadians that reducing dependence on the United States is an urgent priority.
Ahead of the summit, he promised “a new, ambitious alliance” with the EU.
The EU has equally faced US tariffs, and Trump and his top allies have piled criticism on European political leaders.
China’s growing economic heft has also unnerved Brussels, which has moved to protect its industry from what it views as unfair competition from rivals subsidized by Beijing and ease its dependencies on Chinese goods and raw materials.
“In a world of growing rivalries, sovereignty and independence are no longer just the freedom to act alone. It is the capacity to act together,” von der Leyen said.
“When trade becomes a tool of economic pressure, families pay the price, from the supermarket shelf to the cost of a new car. We are seeing in real time our sovereignty being attacked.”
Brussels and Ottawa could either “go it alone” or “take a more strategic approach with trusted partners that face the same challenges,” von der Leyen said.
What could be agreed?
The EU and Canada already share a free-trade pact, but it has not been fully implemented, and Canadian officials have said businesses are pursuing new opportunities in Europe to offset US tariff-related losses.
An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new Canadian partnership would align policies in areas such as climate, energy and artificial intelligence, allowing Ottawa to participate in some EU programs.
Canada has huge stocks of the critical minerals needed for green technologies such as batteries and wind turbines that Europe sources mostly from China.
But Canada needs massive infrastructure investment to jump-start its mining industry. The summit could lead to an agreement allowing the European Investment Bank to back Canadian critical mineral projects.
A digital trade deal allowing faster and cheaper online transactions is expected to be unveiled in Montreal.
Ottawa and Brussels are also understood to be working to have Canada participate in the EU’s Erasmus youth program, which allows university students to spend a semester abroad, among other things.
Carney said this week he wasn’t concerned about associate-member status, or “specific names” to characterize the new alliance.
“What matters is the difference that it will make to the lives of Canadians,” Carney said.