EU divided over "associate membership" idea that Germany's Merz proposed for Ukraine, Politico says

Berlin and Brussels are at odds over a proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to grant Canada "associate member" status in the EU. Tensions have intensified since von der Leyen floated the idea at a summit in Montreal. Germany continues to advocate using the term for Ukraine.

Source: Politico, citing its own diplomatic sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz previously proposed granting Ukraine "associate member" status. After the idea was firmly rejected, including by Kyiv itself, officials in Berlin see von der Leyen's insistence on using the term in relation to Canada as a rebuke to the German chancellor's initiative.

The problem is that von der Leyen's definition of the term in relation to Canada rules out granting the status to Ukraine, two EU diplomats said.

According to Politico, neither Berlin nor Brussels is backing down over the "associate membership" issue, which was discussed at a meeting of EU ambassadors on 4 November. Germany has not abandoned the idea of keeping this option open for Ukraine.

The dispute over the wording illustrates the growing rift between Merz and von der Leyen over how the EU should be run, Politico says.

In particular, Berlin has said it will not approve the EU's next long-term budget, proposed by the European Commission at around €2 trillion, unless "hundreds of billions" are cut from the total. Meanwhile, von der Leyen's proposal to establish a European Security Council has failed to win support in Germany, whose government has opted for a separate format of cooperation with France and the UK to discuss sensitive Ukraine-related issues.

Read more: No guarantees, no rights: why Ukraine should reject Merz's EU "associate membership" plan

Background:

• It was previously reported that Germany, France and at least six other EU member states are opposed to using the term "associate membership" to describe the EU's closer ties with Canada.
• In May, Merz proposed in a letter to EU leaders that Ukraine be granted "associate member" status without voting rights while it conducts its accession negotiations.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the proposal as unfair.

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