Canada could soon become the EU's first associate member

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : Currently, all steps toward EU membership must be approved unanimously by the 27 member countries.
58% : Discussions will ramp up at the Canada-EU summit in late October, he said.
57% : The EU has proposed making Canada its first associate member as Trump-era tensions push Ottawa to deepen economic and strategic ties with Europe.
56% : Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's ambassador-designate to the EU, said Wednesday that Ottawa had discussed associate membership with European officials before von der Leyen's speech and "knew that that was something that was on the table."
56% : Canada has already joined the EU's defense procurement program Von der Leyen said the expanded partnership would cover advanced manufacturing, technology, defense production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and economic security.
56% : He said the shape is likely to become clearer at the Canada-EU summit in October, when the two sides expect to make an announcement and may settle on how to describe it.
56% : Iratxe García Pérez, president of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, praised Carney for showing "great courage confronting Donald Trump" and said allies were needed to defend "sovereignty, solidarity and international law.
55% : He said Canada had talked to the EU about an "Alliance for the Future," while European officials had raised associate membership.
55% : He argued that any new arrangement should be more ambitious than another trade or defense agreement, describing the goal as a more holistic strategic alliance between Canada and the EU.
54% : Canada is seeking to reduce its dependence on the United States, the destination for roughly 70% of its exports, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for a "unique alliance" with the EU.
54% : Carney's office welcomed von der Leyen's proposal, saying Canada was deepening ties with the EU "to strengthen our sovereignty" and supported a move beyond CETA.
54% : " Because Canada joining the EU as an associate member would be a first, there is no rulebook on how that would work or what it would mean in practice.
53% : In her annual State of the European Union address, von der Leyen said Canada and the EU would build on their existing free trade agreement, known as CETA, with a broader "Alliance for the Future" aimed at creating "a common prosperity and economic security space.
51% : The aim, he said, should ultimately be bigger than a bilateral arrangement -- potentially positioning the EU as a convener of middle powers, an idea Carney has also raised.
49% : Canada seeks a relationship just short of EU membership A Canadian official familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press last week that Ottawa was exploring ties with the EU that could stop just short of membership.
48% : The idea of associate membership has been floated in the past for Ukraine, or for post-Brexit Britain, but no concrete steps have been taken.
48% : Beyond trade: Canada and EU explore a broader alliance The relationship between Canada and the European Union has reached a point where the two sides need to move beyond rhetoric and start building something more substantive, said Tobias Cremer, a German member of the European Parliament.
47% : Wilkinson said Canada is not seeking full EU membership because it would require surrendering some sovereignty.
40% : The EU has taken a different course with Washington, reaching a trade agreement that set a 15% U.S. tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU exports while Europe eliminated tariffs on U.S. industrial goods.

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