cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11409350
Whatever one calls it, if the EU and Canada follow through on von der Leyen’s proposal it will take the partnership to a new level.
…
[Canada PM] Mark Carney leapt in delight from his seat in Strasbourg this week when European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the first “associate member” of the EU.
…
In his own otherwise impressively lyrical speech to the European parliament on Thursday, Carney preferred to use the blander term “alliance for the future” and focus on the substance of deeper co-operation.
…
That meant, among other things, a digital free trade agreement (already under negotiation), an alliance on critical raw materials, defence industrial collaboration, working together on AI regulation and sovereign compute capacity, energy security, space, payments technologies, Canadian membership of Erasmus university exchanges and the next phase of the Horizon research programme. Carney also mentioned freedom to travel and work between Canada and the EU.
To co-operate on these things would really take the Canada-EU partnership to a higher level, whatever you want to call it.
…