Report: Germany blocks Canada from granting associate member status At a meeting of the EU's Permanent Representatives Committee, German ambassadors blocked the draft EU-Canada summit joint statement in which Ottawa was formally offered associate membership for the first time. Objections were supported by Italy, Greece and France, and the document was sent for revision to the European Commission. As diplomats said, the protest came before the expiry of the so-called silence procedure - a mechanism whereby the text is automatically approved if no EU member speaks out against it. The reporter writes that the most vocal opponent of the term "associate membership" was Berlin. Also, neither the EU nor Canada yet understand what this wording means in practice.

Report: Germany blocks Canada from granting associate member status At a meeting of the EU's Permanent Representatives Committee, German ambassadors blocked the draft EU-Canada summit joint statement in which Ottawa was formally offered associate membership for the first time. Objections were supported by Italy, Greece and France, and the document was sent for revision to the European Commission. As diplomats said, the protest came before the expiry of the so-called silence procedure - a mechanism whereby the text is automatically approved if no EU member speaks out against it. The reporter writes that the most vocal opponent of the term "associate membership" was Berlin. Also, neither the EU nor Canada yet understand what this wording means in practice.