Media: Merz and von der Leyen divided over "associate membership" for Ukraine
Berlin and Brussels are at odds over European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to grant Canada "associate member" status in the EU. Tensions have intensified after von der Leyen floated the idea at a summit in Montreal, while Germany continues to advocate using the term for Ukraine.
As reported by Politico, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz previously proposed granting Ukraine "associate member" status. After the idea was firmly rejected, including by Kyiv itself, officials in Berlin viewed 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 the definition of the term put forward by von der Leyen in relation to Canada rules out granting Ukraine such status, two EU diplomats said.
According to Politico, neither Berlin nor Brussels is backing down over the issue of "associate membership", 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 a 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 issues related to Ukraine.
It was previously reported that Germany, France and at least six other EU member states opposed 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.
Read more: No guarantees, no rights: why Ukraine should reject Merz's EU "associate membership" plan