{"text":[[{"start":10.46,"text":"European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is at odds with her native Germany over her ambition to grant Canada EU “associate membership”, in a dispute that threatens to overshadow a two-day summit between the bloc and Canada starting on Thursday."}],[{"start":25.34,"text":"EU capitals including Berlin have pushed to remove the term from a joint statement expected to be adopted in Montreal, according to a draft seen by the FT. The intervention is a setback for von der Leyen, who announced the ambition to grant Canada associate membership during a speech in Strasbourg last month, attended by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney."}],[{"start":45.42,"text":"Brussels and Ottawa have been seeking closer ties as tensions with the US and China push both for new alliances. Carney in particular has looked to Europe to deepen its economic alliance with Canada as a pivot away from its dependence on the US following the collapse of trade talks with the Trump administration."}],[{"start":63.32,"text":"The summit is set to focus on expanding co-operation to areas including trade, digital, critical raw materials, defence and security."}],[{"start":71.84,"text":"In a speech in Canada on Thursday, von der Leyen reinforced her commitment to the idea of the country becoming an associate member: “Canada cannot become a full-fledged member of the EU because of geography, but we both want to bring our relationship to the highest level possible. This is why we are discussing the idea of Canada becoming the first associate member of the European Union. Our idea is simple: it is an ‘association without accession’.”"}],[{"start":97.16,"text":"But her concept irritated Berlin and others who demanded the term be taken out of the statement, as it risked complicating talks with Ukraine, which is seeking full EU membership, or with countries like Norway and Switzerland that have preferential EU single market access or existing association agreements."}],[{"start":114.36,"text":"Asked about the discrepancy, a Commission spokesperson on Thursday admitted: “It would have been much better to have unity from member states on the initial wording”, but stressed that what mattered was that there was “a common approach in terms of what is the objective that we want to pursue”. The summit, they added, was “the first meaningful opportunity to develop this concept and the alliance with our partner”."}],[{"start":133.16,"text":"Vasileios Tsianos, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in Canada, said it would be premature to “dismiss the efforts for the ‘associate membership’ name that fast — it will come back”."}],[{"start":146.04,"text":"“There is both a business case and a public benefit case for this unprecedented level of co-operation on between the EU and Canada. Once the results become more visible in a year, I know that the sceptics will turn into sponsors — this happens all the time in EU,” he said."}],[{"start":162.6,"text":"Mark Camilleri, president of the Canada EU Trade and Investment Association, said the term “was more political than legal” and “elevated the conversation in terms of intent and ambition”."}],[{"start":173.96,"text":"“I am not too fussed what it is called, as long as the ambition is translated into some meaningful relationship going forward,” he said."}],[{"start":174.46,"text":"Additional reporting by Paola Tamma in Brussels"}],[{"start":188.12,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793323413_1356.mp3"}