UK-Style Associate Membership Unlikely, But Economic Security Alliance Could Be Key

European Policy Centre Chief Executive and Chief Economist Fabian Zuleeg argues that even if Canada's Associate Membership in the EU is successful, it would not be a suitable model for the UK-EU relationship.

The idea of the UK becoming an Associate Member was proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a potential future for the UK-EU relationship. However, Zuleeg notes that this would be difficult for the UK due to its historical status as a full member and its current situation post-Brexit.

Zuleeg suggests that instead of Associate Membership, the EU and UK could form a broader Economic Security Alliance (ESA) with like-minded countries such as Canada, Norway, Japan, Australia, and South Korea. This alliance would provide a mechanism for liberal democracies to collectively manage economic interdependence in an era of coercion and systemic rivalry.

The ESA would go beyond free trade and allow members to coordinate investment screening and export controls, secure critical supply chains and infrastructure, cooperate on critical technologies and data, integrate aspects of defence procurement and finance, and develop collective responses to economic coercion.