By Maria Cheng and Andrew Gray
OTTAWA/BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Canada and the European Union agreed to ever closer association but dropped the contentious idea of associate membership in a draft statement seen by Reuters ahead of a summit hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Montreal starting on Thursday.
The draft declaration said work to define the relationship would continue until next year’s EU-Canada summit.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's suggestion of “associate member,” six weeks ago had been a divisive 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.
There is no precedent or legal definition for an EU “associate member."
Trump previously called the EU’s proposal to make Canada an associate member “laughable” and said if he interpreted the move as a “hostile act,” the US might stop trading with Europe “on many things.”
Carney told reporters on Tuesday that the summit this week is the launch of further formal negotiations that will take another year.
“The good news is it doesn’t matter about specific names or nomenclature,” Carney said. “What matters is the difference it will make to the lives of Canadians.”
A previous draft statement had included at least two references to Canada as an "associate member," including an acknowledgment that defining the term would take another year.
EU diplomats are currently negotiating a final version of the statement, which needs to be finalized by 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) Central European time.
(Reporting by Maria Cheng; Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Andrew Gray in Brussels; Editing by Caroline Stauffer, Daniel Wallis and Keith Weir)
