EU waters down Canada "associate member" offer ahead of Montreal summit

The EU has retreated from its offer to open "associate member" talks with Canada after member-state objections, ahead of the Montreal summit.

• The draft joint statement offers "an ever closer association of Canada to the EU, short of full membership itself," dropping the associate membership pledge.
• EU ambassadors raised concerns at a Monday meeting, with Italy backing the Commission's term and Germany proposing the watered-down wording.
• Von der Leyen announced the associate membership proposal in September, catching EU capitals by surprise despite the status having no formal treaty basis.
• Mark Carney said the specific terminology did not matter and reaffirmed Canada had no interest in formally joining the EU.