Canada could be heading toward an unprecedented new relationship with the European Union, but what exactly “associate membership” would mean is still being worked out.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed this week that Canada become the EU’s first associate member, saying the two sides should move beyond their existing trade relationship toward what she called an “Alliance for the Future.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed the proposal.
It would not make Canada a full member of the 27-country European Union.
Instead, the two sides are looking at a new form of partnership that could deepen co-operation on trade, investment, defence, critical minerals, energy, technology, artificial intelligence and the Arctic.
Dr. Asa McKercher, the Steven K. Hudson Research Chair in Canada-U.S. Relations at St. Francis Xavier University, says the arrangement is essentially a new category.
“That’s not what Canada will be doing,” McKercher said of full EU membership.
He says the likely focus is a series of agreements intended to make it easier for Canadian and European businesses, governments and institutions to work together.
Canada and the EU already have a major trade agreement through CETA, which has been provisionally in force since 2017.
McKercher says the proposed relationship would build on that foundation at a time when Canada is trying to diversify its economic ties.
“We don’t want to just be relying on one country,” he said. “We want to trade with as many people as possible.”
Details still to come
Exactly what rights or benefits would come with associate membership has not yet been established.
McKercher says some elements of closer Canada-EU co-operation were already underway, while others will require further negotiation.
“A lot of the details, I think, will be coming out in the next few weeks and months,” he said.
One area under discussion is greater mobility between Canada and Europe, including possible Canadian participation in the EU’s Erasmus+ student exchange program.
Carney and European leaders have also highlighted closer ties in critical minerals, defence manufacturing, artificial intelligence, energy security, space and digital trade.
McKercher says a major attraction for Canada is access to a large alternative market and another source of investment.
He expects closer ties could make Canada more attractive to European investors looking for stable places to put capital.
Relationship comes amid U.S. trade tensions
The proposal also comes as Canada’s trade relationship with the United States has deteriorated.
McKercher says the ongoing trade dispute with Washington is clearly part of the reason Ottawa is looking elsewhere.
He says closer ties with Europe could also become part of a broader Canadian effort to build stronger economic relationships in other parts of the world.
Full EU membership, meanwhile, is not what is being proposed.
McKercher says associate membership appears to offer Canada a way to deepen its relationship with Europe without taking on the obligations that would come with becoming an EU country.
Canada and the EU are expected to continue defining the proposed relationship in the months ahead.
