Von der Leyen said it was time to move from co-operation based on trade to a broader “alliance for the future” and “bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible”.
“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.
She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security, as other fields of co-operation.
“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she added.
EU treaties do not envision the possibility of becoming an “associate member”. But the idea was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year vis-a-vis Ukraine.
Under the plan, which met a cold reception in Kyiv as it pushes for full membership status, Ukraine would have been allowed to attend the bloc’s summits and have a representative in the European Commission.
It would have also benefited from parts of the EU budget, but without having full voting rights.
Buffeted by US tariffs and competition from China, Brussels and Ottawa already enjoy a considerable level of co-operation.
A free-trade agreement (CETA) that abolished almost all tariffs has been credited with boosting trade in goods and services by more than 80% since 2016.
And this year Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defence loan programme.
“We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest – but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work,” von der Leyen said. “So, we are joining forces voluntarily.”
– AFP
