Canada has been invited to become the first “associate member” of the European Union (EU).
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union is opening the door for Canada to move closer to the 27-nation bloc.
The announcement marks a significant change in European policy and signals a deepening of economic and trade ties between Brussels and Ottawa.
Speaking in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen said that the European Union wants to bring its relationship with Canada “to the highest level possible.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was in attendance for the speech, had been pursuing a security and economic alliance with Europe.
The associate member designation with the European Union comes as Canada wages a trade war with the neighboring U.S., a situation that has negatively impacted the Canadian economy.
Von der Leyen pledged to work with Canada on issues such as artificial intelligence (A.I.), climate change, geopolitics, and Arctic security.
The European Union and Canada already have a free trade agreement, one that eliminated 99% of all tariffs when it came into effect in 2017.
The trade deal is called the “EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement” (CETA).
While the European Union has previously been reluctant to adopt flexible membership, the bloc is trying to form new partnerships with countries that Von der Leyen said are “like-minded.”
Earlier this year, Carney told delegates at the World Economic Forum that “middle powers” must band together to counter the rise of hard power and build a more cooperative world.
