EU wants Canada as its first ‘associate member,’ von der Leyen says

The European Union wants Canada as its first “associate member” and to “urgently reimagine” their relationship, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her annual State of the Union address in France on Wednesday. “Dear Mark, I said we must urgently reimagine our partnerships. So, I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen told Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was attending the speech.“We share one ocean, one set of values, one way of seeing the world. And we will now build our shared future as well – thank you for being here,” she said.“In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible,” she added.Von der Leyen said Canada and the EU have already increased their volume of trade by 75 per cent in less than a decade since the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed. Story continues below advertisement While the trade deal has been provisionally implemented, it isn’t yet fully ratified as some European Union member states still need to ratify the agreement in their individual legislatures. Get daily National ...