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Can Canada become an associate member of the European Union?

Why not? It ticks all the boxes as far as the EU is concerned: a robust democracy, a vibrant economy, and an unflinching commitment to multilateralism, trans-Atlantic security, and the defense of Ukraine.

Can Canada become an associate member of the European Union?

Why not? It ticks all the boxes as far as the EU is concerned: a robust democracy, a vibrant economy, and an unflinching commitment to multilateralism, trans-Atlantic security, and the defense of Ukraine.

Yet Canada won’t join Europe anytime soon, certainly not in a formal way. What both parties will do instead is double down on mutual commitments. Canada and Europe need each other more than ever. With the multilateral global order in tatters and Donald Trump in charge of U.S. foreign policy, they will either hang together or hang apart. The United States is still the partner of choice for Brussels and Ottawa, but both capitals realize they now need to diversify their economic and security relations in order to gain leverage over Washington.

Most recently, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen floated the possibility of Canada’s associate membership in her State of the Union address in September. The trouble is that there is no such thing as associate membership in the EU’s founding treaties. Sure, Article 217 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union talks about “association” with third countries, “involving reciprocal rights and obligations, common action and special procedure.” Agreements based on that clause form the cornerstone of the relationship between the EU and aspiring members, such as the Western Balkan states or Ukraine.

But Canada’s own treaty with the EU, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), is tied to an altogether different article that governs the union’s commercial policy in the wider........

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