Ireland to seek further detail on EU’s wooing of Canada and defence plan to ‘flank’ Nato

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen signalled closer links with Canada and increased European security co-operation in her state of the union address in Strasbourg on Wednesday.In a move which commission sources said was designed to send a political signal to Canada – but also to the Trump administration – she pitched the idea of bringing the EU-Canada relationship to the “highest possible level”, opening the door to Canada becoming an “associate member” of the EU – a concept that does not legally exist at present. In Dublin, the Coalition parsed the speech – including aspects focusing on enhanced security – and is awaiting further details. One Coalition figure signalled support for open trade with Canada and a good relationship with the US, while outlining that the Canadians seeking closer ties with Europe may irritate US president Donald Trump.READ MOREA senior commission source said the associate membership suggestion was “aspirational”, rather than an overhaul of treaties governing how the EU works. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney was in the European Parliament Strasbourg chamber for the speech, and will on Thursday address MEPs. Sweden's political shift and Germany's electoral shockIn Strasbourg, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the “devil is in the detail” on “new terminologies”, but it was a “ray of hope in a pretty grim time globally” that Carney wanted to work more closely with Europe. “We might live far apart, but our values are shared,” he told RTÉ.Harris will meet his Canadian counterpart on the margins of the informal meeting of European finance ministers at the end of this week. Von der Leyen also warned that hybrid attacks were being carried out by “Russian operatives” in Europe. She proposed a new mechanism that would “flank” Nato’s article four procedure that allows a member of the alliance to report security concerns for debate.She called for summits focused on security, saying the commission would set out ideas to make a “European security council a reality”. While one Minister privately predicted that the Republic would likely get involved in efforts to improve resilience in the face of hybrid threats, there was also caution at senior levels over moves to enhance mutual security steps as outlined.But Fine Gael Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Neale Richmond said the calls were “understandable and realistic” and that her suggestion called for serious consideration.“Our policy of military neutrality is clear and remains. However, that does not mean we can abdicate our responsibilities to our own domestic security as well as that of Europe more broadly.“The challenges Europe is facing from a security point of view are sadly alien to far too many in the Irish political system,” he said.Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said the Government would examine the exact detail of the speech, adding: “There’s no doubt the more expertise we gather together about the hybrid threats that exist to all of us, then the safer people are.”Byrne said the State would await more details on the proposals regarding Canada, alluding to existing links with the country: “It is already among the most advanced of the bilateral relations the EU have.” Negotiations have been going on behind the scenes between officials to lay the ground for a closer relationship building on the 2017 Ceta [Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement] deal. Harris indicated that Ireland was awaiting a final decision on legal challenges to the pact in the courts before ratifying it, but had passed enabling legislation to do so this year.Officials in Brussels are working towards joint declarations and announcements at a summit planned between von der Leyen and the Canadian PM next month.The commission is planning to seek political backing from the EU’s 27 national leaders for its negotiators to push for an as expansive a deal as possible with Canada in those talks.