Marriage of convenience or red rag to Trump?

Ursula von der Leyen's startling offer for Canada to become "the first associate member" of the EU during Wednesday’s State of the Union speech took many by surprise, not least the member states whose approval would be required for such an outcome.

"First we’d heard of it," remarked one EU diplomat. "It was a surprise," said a second diplomat, "but not a negative surprise."

The next day, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Strasbourg chamber that "Canada welcomes this ambition", although he did not himself refer to "associate" membership, and indeed later said his country had no ambitions to join the bloc.

As MEPs, member states and think-tanks scrambled to understand what was on offer. The European Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill told RTÉ’s Six One news: "All member states were consulted, all were aware."