Carney says Canada is working to become an 'associate member' as he hosts EU leaders in Montreal

According to CBC, Carney said ahead of a business roundtable on Thursday: "We're in the process of forging a new alliance — alliance for the future — with Canada as an associate member"[2]. The broadcaster notes that until Thursday, he had largely avoided the title and argued that the name doesn't matter[2].Reuters reported that a joint declaration it had seen agreed to "ever closer association" but dropped the contentious idea of associate EU membership[3]. dpa, citing diplomats, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and several other leaders of EU countries pushed for the terms to be removed from the draft[4].The Boston Globe reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen showed no sign Thursday of abandoning the idea[5]. She said, according to the paper, "Canada cannot become a full-fledged member of the EU because of geography"[5].Canada's National Observer reports that European Council President António Costa endorsed the "bold idea" of associate membership for Canada[6]. He said "Regardless of the specific term used... our partnership will be the closest, deepest and most unique one possible"[6].Al Jazeera reports that Trump previously called the EU's proposal "laughable"[7].Anand Sundar of the European Council on Foreign Relations told the Boston Globe that "member states have rejected the associate membership framing is very embarrassing for von der Leyen"[5].According to Reuters, the declaration, which officials plan to make public on Friday, said work to define the Canada-EU relationship would continue until another summit next year[3].