‘Associate’ EU membership for Canada not a ‘short-term’ project: expert

Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out a timeline that would see Canada sign an agreement on a new partnership with the European Union in the next seven months, if all goes well. Carney said Friday that Ottawa and Brussels are working toward the “deepest possible partnership short of accession” that would see Canada become “the European Union’s first associate member.”He said in the coming months, the two sides will meet to “determine the full substance, scale and scope of this new form of membership.”Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, championed the idea of associate membership in Strasbourg, France, last month. On Friday, she said she believes in building a partnership with Canada that “comes closer to membership than anything we’ve done before.”Even though top EU officials are enthusiastic about closer ties with Canada, the talks won’t necessarily be a walk in the park. The European Union is far from politically united on the idea. Story continues below advertisement Achim Hurrelmann, co-director of the Centre for European Studies at Carleton University, said it could prove difficult to negotiate that status, especially in the short term.“I’m not sure i...