That would be the craziest shit to be honest, but I sure welcome you all!
Surprised I had to scroll all the way down here to find it. Was everyone else having a discussion only based on the headline?
Thankyou
Being a member of the European Economic Area is a more realistic goal and would probably solve Canada's problems derived from being far too Economically entwinned with their next door neighbour.
Mind you, any form of being part of the EU Single Market (which EEA members are without being EU members) requires a ton of uniformization of things like Product regulations (which amongst other things means Canada would not be allowed to import many if not most US food products such as for example beef of cattle which has been fed hormones) and acceptance of Freedom Of Movement for both people and goods.
(Following Brexit, Britain did not move to become an EEA member exactly because of both the Freedom of Movement requirement and the difficulty in getting other EEA member approval since the UK are a disproportionatelly large economy compared to all EEA members but Canada's reasons are different - not anti-immigration and xenophobia like the UK - so things like Freedom Of Movement would probably not be an issue and its Economy is just a bit over half the size of the UK's)
We need stronger ally relationships, considering things are going south with our Southern ally!
This is going to be so funny for Britain.
Why? Most of us want back in.
I would support stronger ties to Canada, but Canada is not exactly in Europe
Why would that matter? It's a political and economical union, not a geographical one.
As the parliament says
In order to apply for EU membership, a country has to be European and respect the EU's democratic values
Since according to Article 49
The applicant country must [...] be a European state;
https://publications.europa.eu/resource/cellar/0ae670d2-1ece-4994-b1e3-adda39e1c6de.0006.03/DOC_1
It's literally one of their requirements.
The definition of what classifies as European is up to the assessment of the European Council and the European Commission and need not be defined by geography.
III. CONDITIONS OF ACCESSION a) The European State
The sole material condition laid down by Article O of the TEU is that the applicant must be a 'European State'. There is no unequivocal interpretation of that criterion. It can be read equally well in geographical, cultural or political terms.
In 1987 an application to become a Member of the Communities was received from Morocco. The application was rejected by the Council on the grounds that Morocco was not a European State ( 7). In the case of Turkey, Article 28 of the Association Agreement signed in 1963 incudes the option of Turkey's eventually acceding to the Communities. Turkey in fact lodged an application to accede on 14 April 1987. Historically, Turkey has formed part of the so-called 'European concert'. Although part of Turkey's territory is located geographically in Asia, Parliament, the Council and the Commission have confirmed Turkey's eligibility ( 8). This example shows that the term 'European State' need not be interpreted in a strictly geographical sense. It is at all events a criterion subject to political assessment.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/briefings/23a2_en.htm
In other words if we decide that Canada counts, then Canada counts.
Maybe not right now but requirements can be changed, especially in times of need.
Canada does share a land boarder with Denmark.
Two! Both sea and land borders with France. Don't forget Vimy Ridge!
What if we just take Canada and move it over a little?
Thinking outside the ~~box~~ continent. I like it
I think EU membership is a huge stretch, but we could certainly move in the direction of harmonizing with EU trade regulations. A good medium-term goal might be to join the Schengen trade zone, and then move on from there.
Why would this be surprising given the state of things?
Fuck yeeeah!
I don't think Canada needs the Euro or the Stability and Growth Pact straightjacket. We also don't need European xenophobic attitudes towards immigration.
Let's have a customs union, and let's have closer integration and cooperation, but let's keep our independence.
Signed, a dual citizen.
Yeah works for me.
Membership of the #EU is a long term project with many intermediate steps. Some decided they are fine with a certain step and stay on it(Norway) some decided to get off completley(Iceland) and some decided to get out after they were in(UK). Though I admit brexit was, unnecessarily, bitter the rift is healing and we enjoy good relations with all.
Tough I'd welcome Canada into the union I dont think either side fully grasp how deep and wideranging ascension would be. Regardless I'm perfectly fine with a customs union if thats what #Canada wants.
I dont think either side fully grasp how deep and wideranging ascension would be
Precisely. Canadians are currently experiencing whiplash from the American betrayal. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with strengthening ties, full fledged EU membership is a whole other rabbit hole that requires sober thought.
Well, Norway was at 52% Vs 48% back in '94. It's changing, there was a big article on it today on nrk.no, so Norway might become an EU member soon.
European xenophobic attitudes
You know we're not all like that, right?
And Canada also has far-right nutjobs.
Yup. Like I said, I'm a dual citizen, and I've experienced being an immigrant in Canada and it's nowhere near what immigrants back home experience. But of course, Europe also has strong left and left-of-centre traditions. It just so happens that right now, they're mostly on the back foot.
Stability and Growth Pact
So, here's the Wikipedia on that. It sounds like it's basically a way to make the Euro somewhat functional, which is ironic considering that's the other thing you said to avoid.
I wonder how we'd rank. We have the best fiscal situation in the G7 at the moment.
It won't happen
not with that attitude
I’m all for closer ties with the EU but it doesn’t make sense to join the union due to simple geography.
Eurovision Song Contest laughs at your petti geography.
Vatican City: could participate but does not.
If they can get some kind of special status like the UK had it would make sense, simply because there's no tariffs inside EU borders and free travel and probably some other stuff.
It's not that far, it looks further on the map due to the map projection. A flight takes 6-7 hours from Ottowa to the UK and with the opening of the Bearing Strait sea lane it'll become feasible to ship non-perishable goods from Canada to EU and back from both sides of the Canada.
Greenland.
In 10 years there will be European countries all over the world.
It's a nice idea but the EU needs to do a treaty reform to do that. There'll also be a major issue with integrating since Canada is a part of NAFTA and will have to potentially produce labels and hold standards of both. There are probably some regulations that contradict each other somewhere.
Seems like the current US government is trying to rip that agreement right up
I'm not a fan of actions taken in haste but diversifying trading opportunities and providing mutual security really could be beneficial.
Canada is not part of Europe. The EU charter would require rewriting, and thats unlikely to happen.
It only needs to have some of its territory in Europe. It would be funny giving them a square meter enclave in the middle of nowhere.
Or I dont know... an embassy 🧐
Would that one island they and the Danes argue over count?
Cmon Eddies!
What's going on Canada?
🍁 Meta
🗺️ Provinces / Territories
🏙️ Cities / Local Communities
Sorted alphabetically by city name.
🏒 Sports
Hockey
Football (NFL): incomplete
Football (CFL): incomplete
Baseball
Basketball
Soccer
💻 Schools / Universities
Sorted by province, then by total full-time enrolment.
💵 Finance, Shopping, Sales
🗣️ Politics
🍁 Social / Culture
Rules
Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca also apply here. See the sidebar on the homepage: lemmy.ca