The European Parliament has said that Australia and New Zealand could follow Canadaʼs example and become associate members of the European Union. This could be an intermediate option between full EU membership and candidate country status.
This was stated by the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in an interview with Euronews.
According to Metsola, Australia and New Zealand are countries with which the EU wants to deepen cooperation. She noted that negotiations on the format of associated membership are still at an early stage. According to her, this includes closer trade, access to important raw materials and common rules on social media and child protection.
On September 16, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that Canada become the first associated member of the European Union. She noted that trade between the EU and Canada has increased by 75% over the past 10 years.
However, Politico, citing sources, wrote that many EU members were caught off guard by von der Leyenʼs statement. Some Canadian officials distanced themselves from the proposal.
Canadaʼs new ambassador to the EU Jonathan Wilkinson downplayed the prospect. He said Canada had not yet achieved that status and was currently focused on achieving concrete results.
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