By Julia Payne
Most recently, Germany suggested Ukraine be an associate member as an interim stage to full accession, though the proposal failed to gain traction as some EU capitals pushed back. Carney is seeking new alliances amid repeated threats by U.S. President Donald Trump against Canada’s sovereignty. This would include joint work on manufacturing, a tech alliance, integration of defence industrial bases, the Arctic, AI, energy and critical minerals. Von der Leyen was speaking in her capacity as President of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm. It would fall on the EU member states to decide whether the idea flies. If Canada wishes to become locked into the EU’s Single Market, Ottawa would need to reconcile Canada’s norms and regulations to match EU law.
BRUSSELS, Sept 16 – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she wanted to open the door for Canada to become the European Union’s first “associate member”. Earlier this week, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney — who was in Strasbourg to listen to von der Leyen’s annual State of the Union address — said Canada was seeking a “unique alliance” with the EU but not membership. In her speech, von der Leyen said the two sides would create a “common prosperity and economic space”. Ukraine saw Germany’s proposal for “associate membership” as “unfair” as Kyiv would participate but with no voting rights.
