Politico reports a draft joint statement shows EU states have abandoned a
proposal to grant Canada 'quasi-member' status ahead of a landmark EU-Canada
summit, replacing it with a commitment to foster 'increasingly closer ties.'
Diplomats said Germany, Italy, Greece and France opposed the earlier wording,
which had sought to define a 'quasi‑member' concept by the 2027 EU-Canada
summit. The final draft says parties will work to clarify the concept of closer
ties before 2027 but explicitly excludes formal EU accession.
