EU divisions persist on ‘associate member’ label for Canada

BRUSSELS — The EU was split Tuesday over whether to offer “associate membership” status to Canada, with several countries refusing to sign off on a statement containing that phrase just 48 hours before a summit between the two sides in Montreal. After EU capitals could not agree on the language in the statement in talks between ambassadors Monday, they used the so-called silence procedure on Tuesday. That meant a new text would be adopted automatically without a formal meeting or vote, if no countries objected by midday. But Germany, which is leading the push to have the term “associate member” fully removed from the text, was among at least four countries that broke the silence procedure before that deadline, said two EU diplomats, granted anonymity to speak freely. That means the topic will be discussed Wednesday at another meeting of EU ambassadors, just one day before the EU-Canada summit kicks off. The fracture shows how divided the EU remains on the idea of “associate membership,” which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during her State of the Union speech in Strasbourg last month. Four EU diplomats told POLITICO at the time that she did not consult European capitals before floating the idea. Von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and a host of commissioners will fly to Montreal for a summit with Carney on Thursday and Friday, aiming to deepen ties and cooperation on everything from trade and energy to education and the Arctic.