Canada-EU alliance: as a blueprint for a ‘middle-power bloc’ it has a lot of hurdles to overcome

By Martin Waehlisch, Associate Professor, University of Birmingham
Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham

The dream of a Canada-EU “middle-power bloc” has hit its first serious obstacle. At the Montreal summit, Brussels failed to deliver on the promise of associate membership for Canada, despite the enthusiastic backing of European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

Instead, the EU offered the hollow consolation of “an ever-closer association”, raising an uncomfortable question about whether the middle powers can overcome their own divisions to become a serious geopolitical force.

Read complete article

~	Vocational GCSEs won’t arrive until 2029 – but clean energy skills can be found in the curriculum now

~	Andy Burnham at Prime Minister’s Questions: what’s he doing differently?

~	Nearly 7 in 10 professors report being bullied, often by students over grades

~	As it gets harder to figure out what to eat, some Americans are turning to religion for answers

~	Menopause can quietly weaken bones – here’s what research reveals about protecting them

~	Pediatric palliative care addresses the unique needs of seriously ill children and their families

~	Meta’s $25B fine left out accountability for the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal

~	How North Korea became a world leader in state-sponsored hacking

~	Stone age hunters in northern Europe may have used poison arrows to hunt big prey

~	Five ways that sea-level rise affects your daily life, even if you live inland