Politics: Dispute over Canada deepens rift between Merz von der Leyen Berlin and Brussels are at loggerheads over von der Leyen's proposal to make Canada a "united member" of the European Union. Dozens of concepts deteriorated when the head of the European Commission used this word at the summit in Montreal, just hours after the German side promised to delete the term from the joint statement. Meretz previously proposed "related companies" to Ukraine, but the idea was not supported. In Germany, von der Leyen's initiative was considered an attack on the chancellor. According to diplomats, the problem is that the granting of such a status by Canada does not include the possibility of obtaining it by Ukraine. The dispute over Canada exposed the already existing conflict between von der Leyen and Mertz over how the bloc should be governed. Controversies also affect finance and defense policy. Berlin opposed the Commission's proposed long-term budget of 2 trillion euros and did not support the establishment of the European Security Council.