Canada-EU: an alliance without the word that divides, France must finally decide on CETA

Some summits are judged by their communiqués, others by the words that vanished from them. The one that brought Canada and the European Union together in Montreal on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October belongs to both categories. The leaders launched an "Alliance for the Future", but the "associate member" status promised to Canada by Ursula von der Leyen does not appear in the final declaration.

The facts

According to the joint statement published by the Canadian Prime Minister's Office, the 21st summit between the two partners set a course: to define, by the 2027 summit, a closer association of Canada with the Union, without membership. The text also plans to accelerate the security and defence partnership, recalls Canada's participation in the European SAFE instrument and welcomes Ottawa's intention to join the Ukraine Support Loan.

On the economic side, negotiations on a digital trade agreement are described as substantively concluded, and a cooperation agreement between competition authorities has been finalised. An agreement with the European Investment Bank is meant to facilitate European investment in Canadian critical resources. The two sides are launching a feasibility study on Canadian liquefied natural gas exports to Europe and a new dialogue on the Arctic. Finally, the declaration reaffirms support for the International Criminal Court and regrets the US sanctions targeting it.

Yet the divisive word was removed. According to diplomats quoted by Reuters and the German agency dpa, as reported by Al Jazeera, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and several other leaders secured the removal of the "associate member" wording from the draft text. Euronews notes that Berlin had itself used this formula for Ukraine earlier in the year.

The positions

Ursula von der Leyen defends a simple formula, reported by Euronews:

an association without accession — Ursula von der Leyen

The Commission President explained, according to AFP, that geography prevents Canada from becoming a full member. Mark Carney, for his part, plays down the semantic dispute. According to the Canadian channel CP24, he said the nomenclature mattered little and that what counted was what the alliance would concretely change for Canadians.

The German reservations are not mere whim. An associate member status does not exist in the treaties, AFP points out, and it has no established legal definition. Creating a new category for a G7 country would have consequences for other candidates or neighbours, from Ukraine to the United Kingdom. In Canada itself, former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy called the proposal very ambiguous, according to CP24, and questioned whether it would be reciprocal.

Then there is the shadow of Washington. Donald Trump had described this rapprochement as "ridiculous" in September, according to AFP, and suggested he might see it as a hostile act. Mark Carney replies that the United States will also benefit from it.

The analysis

For France, this summit should be good news. Canada shares with Europe a commitment to international law, multilateralism and the fight against climate change. The Montreal declaration shows it: support for the International Criminal Court, for the Paris Agreement, for the reform of the United Nations. In a world where power struggles are replacing rules, an alliance between democracies that defend these principles directly serves the Gaullist idea of a powerful Europe, able not to depend on a single protector.

But France comes to this table with a contradiction it can no longer ignore. According to AFP, the CETA free trade agreement removes customs duties on 98% of traded goods, and nine member states, including France, have still not ratified it. The Senate rejected it on 21 March 2024, Public Sénat recalls, with the votes of most LR senators and of the left, on behalf of livestock farmers, particularly the beef sector. On 30 May that year, according to LCP, the National Assembly adopted a resolution asking the government to submit the text to it. Since then, the agreement has been applied provisionally, without the national representation being able to decide.

One cannot argue for a strategic alliance with Ottawa while leaving pending, for more than two years, Parliament's vote on the trade agreement that forms its foundation. This shows respect neither for our partners, nor for our farmers, nor for parliamentary democracy.

The alliance also raises substantive questions. The study on Canadian liquefied natural gas meets the need to diversify supplies, but it will have to be weighed against the climate objectives that both partners reaffirm in the same text. And a closer defence partnership must not be built at the expense of the European industrial capacities that the SAFE instrument is supposed to strengthen.

Conclusion

Europe is right to reach out to Canada, and Germany is not wrong to insist that the legal framework come before the slogans. France can do better than keep score. It could propose that the definition of this association, by 2027, involve the European Parliament and national parliaments, and that its agricultural and climate components come with reciprocity clauses on standards. Above all, it should finally submit the ratification of CETA to the National Assembly, with a debate on the guarantees owed to livestock farmers. An alliance of democracies begins with a democratic vote.

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence.