Canada and the EU will lay the groundwork for a sweeping new partnership aimed at better navigating a world dominated by the United States and China at a Montreal summit this week.
Already enjoying a free trade pact and a defence procurement programme among other deals, Brussels and Ottawa hope to deepen cooperation in other areas.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect of Canada becoming the 27-nation bloc's first "associate member" in September.
This raised a few eyebrows as the title doesn't exist in the EU treaties. Some EU states oppose the term being used before its meaning is properly defined.
An EU official speaking on condition of anonymity admitted it was "uncharted territory" for the bloc, but the term underscored the ambition to create a close partnership with Canada just short of membership.
This would entail aligning policies in areas such as climate, energy, and artificial intelligence, letting Ottawa participate in some EU programmes, and creating a common governance structure.
The latter would "build on" the invitations Canada recently received to take part in EU summits and ministerial meetings, Jozef Sikela, the EU commissioner for international partnerships, told the European Parliament last week.
Some EU lawmakers have also argued for the creation of an inter-parliamentary body to hold regular exchanges.
Canada is rich in rare earths and critical minerals needed for green technologies like batteries and wind turbines that Europe currently sources mostly from China.
But mining in Canada is yet to take off, with operators looking for investments and commitment from buyers to enter a market dominated by Beijing, said Noah Gordon of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
The summit could lead to an agreement allowing the European Investment Bank to put money behind Canadian critical minerals projects.
Brussels and Ottawa were also looking at joint stockpiling, the anonymous EU official said, referring to the practice of storing materials to stabilise supply and support demand.
A digital trade deal allowing for faster and cheaper online transactions is expected to be unveiled in Montreal.
An early draft of a joint statement for the summit seen by AFP also envisaged deeper cooperation on both artificial intelligence infrastructure and regulation.
The summit should launch work to pave the way for Canada to join the EU's Galileo programme and IRIS² project.
The first is a global navigation satellite system that offers an alternative to the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), and the second aims to equip Europe with a substitute for Elon Musk's Starlink satellite constellation.
The EU also recently unveiled plans to connect the EU's mainland with Greenland, Canada, Japan and South Korea via a submarine cable system that would bypass the United States.
"We need to develop our stuff and take care of our own," said a European diplomat.
Ottawa and Brussels are understood to be working to have Canada participate in the EU's popular Erasmus youth mobility programme, which allows university students to spend a semester abroad among other things.
The draft statement also discussed "enhancing labour mobility, with a focus on reducing barriers for young people and highly skilled workers and promoting greater recognition of professional qualifications".
"Treaties and institutions are important, but the real foundation of the EU-Canada alliance is people-to-people contact," said Tobias Cremer, a centre-left EU lawmaker from Germany.
Brussels is hoping to secure additional financial support for Ukraine from Canada to cover Kyiv's budget shortfall.
And scientific cooperation could be boosted by allowing Canada into Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship funding programme for research.
The EU official said Europe was ready to open its supercomputing infrastructure to Canadian researchers.
The two parties want to strengthen energy ties, with the draft statement mentioning exports of Canadian liquefied natural gas to Europe and the development of renewables.
Plans for the joint purchase of 50 water bombers made by Canadian firm De Havilland - something that also appeared in the early draft - have instead been shelved.
The EU's commissioner for crisis management Hadja Lahbib said the bloc had already ordered 24 of the planes in 2024 - and no new purchases were possible as member states negotiated the EU's next long-term budget.
The idea had faced some opposition in Europe, where some countries would rather EU money be spent on alternative aircraft made by European firms.
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