By Maria Cheng and Andrew Gray
OTTAWA/BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting a summit with the European Union in Montreal starting Thursday, six weeks after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered to make Canada its first “associate member,” a mostly symbolic move that several European countries have already opposed.
A draft statement from EU and Canadian officials seen by Reuters said “an even closer association between Canada and the EU” would be created and did not mention associate membership. The draft statement said work to define the relationship would continue until next year’s EU-Canada summit.
Von der Leyen's suggestion of "associate membership" for Canada was a contentious issue in negotiations among EU countries on the summit declaration, with Germany leading a group that argued they could not sign up to a concept that had no legal status and had not yet been fleshed out, diplomats said.
Deeper ties to Europe are an important part of Carney's strategy to reduce Canada’s overwhelming economic and security reliance on the US since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian imports. Still, Canada's efforts to draw closer to the EU also risk angering Trump as trade talks between Canada and the US continue.
(Reporting by Maria Cheng; Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Andrew Gray in Brussels; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Daniel Wallis)