“A category that doesn’t exist yet”: Experts discuss proposed EU associate status for Canada

According to Dal News, the discussion took place at a workshop on Sept. 22 hosted by the Jean Monnet European Union Centre of Excellence (JMEUCE)[1].Euronews reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that Canada has been invited to become the first "associate member" of the EU[3]. Euronews adds that the status is a completely new status[3], and one open question is whether Canada would get voting rights.Dal News reports that Zaiotti, the JMEUCE director, said the arrangement would give Canada "access to, among other things, a single market and deepened security cooperation."[1]According to Dal News, experts said the benefits could be large if the status were written into EU treaties and approved by all 27 member states, a process that would take considerable time[1]. Dal News says those benefits could include joining Erasmus, the EU's student-exchange program[1]. He told Dal News that "since CETA's provisional implementation, Canadian exports to the EU haven't changed much."[1] He added: "Not every attempt at trade diversification is helpful."[1]Dal News reports that Zaiotti also warned Canada could lose sovereignty over final decisions, saying "the rules that constitute the single market will be made in Brussels."[1]The Council on Foreign Relations reported that several EU governments were reportedly furious that they had not been consulted beforehand[4].