The European Union (EU) plans to deepen its partnership with Canada, but it will have a less formal status than what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had originally proposed, Politico reports.

Von der Leyen had originally proposed "associate membership" for Canada in her State of the European Union speech in September, catching some EU countries off-guard. Now, however, the EU has abandoned that term.

According to the latest version of the statement being prepared for the EU-Canada summit, it was decided not to develop the idea of “associate membership.” According to Politico, which has seen the document, a number of EU countries, including Germany, Greece and France, have opposed mentioning such a status in the joint statement to be published in Montreal.

The document now talks about "ever closer association," but Brussels continues to offer Ottawa a significant expansion of the partnership with the EU.

“The good news is it doesn’t matter about specific names or nomenclature," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said. "What matters is the difference that it will make to lives of Canadians."

The final text of this statement has not yet been approved, but a previous draft of the joint statement had read that the EU and Canada would "work to define by the 2027 EU-Canada Summit the concept of Associate Member that will reflect, through this even closer association, our common endeavour and cooperation towards our shared goals of prosperity, economic security and strategic autonomy."