Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
- The European Union and Canada are working toward a new relationship that will range from trade to security, to offset the global power politics dominated by the US and China.
- The discussions are particularly focused on “strategic capabilities,” such as cooperation on defense, space exploration and scientific research, with Canada making a deeper EU partnership a top priority.
- The arrangements will aim to cover all areas of the relationship, including trade, security, supply chains and critical raw materials, with the goal of getting as close as legally possible to EU membership without actually joining.
People have answered pretty well but I’d also come at it from a different angle, the EU also probably wants ways to deepen connections without full blown membership. (Consider the headaches that Orban caused for years.) In an era that looks increasingly like it will be defined by great power rivalry, having the EU create a more nimble sort of partnership than full blown membership could be very attractive to many middle countries (especially in East Asia as countries reassess their security guarantees from America against China’s increasingly bellicose behaviour.)