nam 22 uu 4500 10.59704/3e1555c5b6b7d44b DE-Verfassungsblog cr||||| 260925s2026||||xx#|||||o|||| ||| 0|eng|| 10.59704/3e1555c5b6b7d44b doi eng 342 23 Duff, Andrew Author aut Associate Membership of the EU - An Idea Whose Time Has Come Duff, Andrew Verfassungsblog 2026-09-25 Text txt rdacontent Computermedien c rdamedia Online-Ressource cr rdacarrier Ursula von der Leyen’s call for Canada to become the EU’s “first associate member” caught most people by surprise. Almost all the media dismissed the idea. We federalists, however, should thank the Commission President for injecting a refreshing note of realism into EU politics. This paper suggests adding a new article to the TEU. Member States should address the design of the new model in a positive manner and agree to depart from the rule of rigid unanimity that so hampers deeper political integration in a larger Union. CC BY-SA 4.0 Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 https://verfassungsblog.de/associate-membership-of-the-eu/ raw object