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

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.