18th September 2026
The European Union may be starting to rethink what it means to be part of Europe.
That may sound surprising when the country being discussed is Australia, thousands of miles from the continent. But European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has now openly suggested that Australia and New Zealand could potentially follow Canada into a new form of EU associate membership.
The idea is still at an early stage. Australia is not applying to become a full member of the EU and there is no existing EU category called associate membership. The proposal first emerged this week in relation to Canada, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggesting that Canada could become the EU's first associate member. Metsola has now said other like-minded countries could potentially follow.
That makes Australia particularly interesting because its relationship with the EU has already been moving closer.
In March, Australia and the EU concluded negotiations on a comprehensive free-trade agreement. It has not yet come into force, but the Australian government expects the agreement to be signed in late 2026 or early 2027, followed by the necessary parliamentary processes.
The two sides have also signed a Security and Defence Partnership covering areas including cyber security, critical minerals, maritime security, space and defence industry cooperation. Australia is also seeking association with Horizon Europe, the EU's major research and innovation programme.
There is therefore already a substantial relationship to build upon.
Why would Australia want closer ties?
Australia is a long-established member of the US-led Western alliance system and remains deeply connected economically and strategically to the United States and the Asia-Pacific region.
But the world is changing.
Australia has important supplies of minerals needed for modern technology and manufacturing, while Europe has a huge consumer market, advanced industries and substantial investment resources.
The EU is also looking to strengthen its supply chains for critical minerals, energy and technology.
Australia and the EU already have substantial economic links. Two-way trade was worth A$110.7 billion in 2025, while EU investment in Australia was worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
What does this mean for Britain?
This is where the story becomes particularly interesting.
Britain left the EU and became a separate trading partner. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, countries with exceptionally close historical links to Britain, could now be moving towards much closer institutional relationships with Europe.
It would be wrong to suggest Australia is about to join the EU. It isn't.
But if the EU creates a successful form of associate membership, it could establish a new middle ground between full EU membership and being an ordinary third country.
Exactly what associate membership would provide remains unclear. Discussions could eventually involve closer trade, regulatory cooperation, access to European programmes, critical-mineral supply chains, research and security cooperation.
That could become important for Britain.
The UK already has extensive security and defence cooperation with European countries, and the EU has been looking at ways of working more closely with non-member European partners.
The Australian development therefore raises a wider question: is the EU beginning to create a flexible outer circle of countries that are not members but are closely connected to the European project?
Canada may be the first test.
Australia and New Zealand may be watching closely.
And Britain will certainly have an interest in seeing how the experiment develops.