European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted to open the door to Canada becoming the EU's first ‘associate member’ in a push to forge new links among allies in ‘an openly hostile world’ ↧ EU's von der Leyen wants Canada to become bloc's first associate me... European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she wanted to ​open the door to Canada becoming the EU's first "associate member" in a push to forge new links among allies in "an openly hostile world".