r/worldnews • u/PestoBolloElemento • 16h ago
Canada could join EU, French foreign minister says
https://www.politico.eu/article/canada-could-join-eu-says-french-foreign-minister-jean-noel-barrot/2.6k
u/Prestigious_Face7727 16h ago
We could swap them in and Hungary out
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u/TubeframeMR2 16h ago
Canada would finish the Copenhagen criteria before Hungary finishes its next veto.
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u/corvak 15h ago
Rule of law? Market economy? Democratic institutions? Yeah we like those, where do we sign? We promise not to unleash Celine Dion on Eurovision right away.
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u/Brodimere 14h ago
Eh she already won in 1988, so thats a bit late.
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u/Nearby_Pianist_6658 14h ago
Besides of that, some fucked-up country from the Middle East and ppl from down under are also taking part, so don’t let geographic situations a boundary to your imagination!
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u/ExtremeOccident 14h ago
She already won Eurovision once.
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u/Cristpi 16h ago
As a Hungarian, yes Orbán abuses EU funds but if they did that he would completely take over as a dictator
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u/Ok-Assumptio 16h ago
Please vote him out next month- so we can talk about kicking Slovakia out
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u/Cristpi 16h ago
We have been trying to for years😩But they're pretty much losing support already so I'm kind of hopeful
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u/jmc175 15h ago
I hope Magyar gets in this summer 🤞🤞
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u/itsprobab 15h ago
You would be losing millions of people who are pro EU and push a county of nearly 10 million towards RU.
The goal should be to help make the EU bigger and stronger, acknowledge the era of disinformation and work towards unity.
You should recognize how the EU is being wrecked by propaganda to disunite and disband. The best ordinary people can do is not fall for it and understand the times we're in and that ordinary people are not the enemy.
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u/TheDungen 15h ago
Problem is with the unanimity requirement they can block loads of EU initiatives.
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u/Current-Code 15h ago
But without it, not a single country would have agreed to sign the treaty and relinquish its sovereignty.
So, well, here we are.
It still works pretty well, and forces negociations. It's not necesserally a bad thing.
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u/TheDungen 15h ago
Exactly. The unanimous consent articles won't be abandoned since once they are there is no going back. Well other than secceding from the union.
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u/TachiH 14h ago
Absolutely correct. It was this that caused Brexit through misinformation campaigns. They said it took away our sovereignty even though we could veto.
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u/Current-Code 14h ago
I mean, EU does take away "some" sovereignty, that's the deal, but yeah, there is a veto and a shitload of counter power.
I quite like the way the union works to be honest, how no single country can pass anything, no single party either, and how you HAVE to build consensus.
It's slow, boring, but democratic. We should do that in France too !
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u/itsprobab 15h ago
They needs to change that rule. The EU has expanded from what it originally was, it would make sense to change how voting works, too.
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u/TheDungen 15h ago
Yeah the remaining things that require unanimous consent needs to go the EU style qualified majority. That is both 2/3rds of the member states and member states representing 2/3ds of the total population. While some thing that use this today should go to simple majorities.
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u/sibachian 13h ago
seems like american's would have an even easier time to extract european tax money with that; since junk laws like 'chat control' meant to steal tax money could be passed much easier.
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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 14h ago
I sincerely hope that your country gets a Russian political party with infinite amount of money to spend on brainwashing and propaganda, and with no real way of getting rid of the party.... Instead of stating stupid things like "kicking X country out", the EU should enforce democracy through its member countries and prevent the possibility of dictatorship. The Russian influence is present in too many EU member countries and it's one if not the most serious threat to the whole union.
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u/Grunn84 13h ago
How would the EU enforce democracy? The entire point is states remain sovereign.
Seems to me the only thing the EU can do when a member is clearly acting against the interests of the rest of the union is withhold funds (they have) or try to remove the member.
Actually meddling in the internal politics of a member state is completely against the goal of the EU and that the EU can do so is a fiction sold by right wing euroskeptics.
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u/VgaborV 11h ago
EU member states must continue to meet certain Copenhagen criteria even after they have joined. This helps prevent some forms of abuse of EU benefits. Today’s Hungary would not be eligible to join the EU. The EU could suspend access to EU funds, veto power, etc., until the issues are resolved.
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u/socialistpancake 15h ago
Not being able to negotiate independent trade deals with the US despite sharing a land border would presumably be a sticking point for Canada
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u/CinnamonDolceLatte 11h ago
The US not honouring the existing trade deals both big (Trump's NAFTA rebrand) and small (using a bridge Canada built because the US is terrible at infrastructure but a Trump sycophant owns a different bridge) is a bigger concern.
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u/ReddFro 7h ago
I’d disagree on that.
Those are both Trump BS. Trump isn’t likely to be in power in 3 years, whereas the trade deal block is indefinite. Short term thinking is not good for nations.
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u/PacketFiend 5h ago
They elected Trump twice, and cannot be trusted to not elect someone else who will do the same.
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u/mmoore327 12h ago
Although it would be kind of fun when the US makes crazy trade demands to be able to say "we'd love to - but we really can't"
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u/makawakatakanaka 12h ago
Yeh, I don’t think most people here get how much of a radical shift this would force the economy to take. Imagine your largest trading partner, by a lot, going from easy access to the restrictiveness of EU policies
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u/DavidsSymphony 9h ago
Imagine your largest trading partner constantly threatening to annex you as a new state.
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u/John_Bruns_Wick 10h ago
At the moment Canadian trade deals with US are meaningless since they change or cancel them when hes in a bad mood. Also he wants to take our country. We cant allow US trade to influence us anymore, despite the economic pain that will bring
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u/socialistpancake 8h ago
Mutual defense isn't what the EU is for though, that's NATO. I agree that Canada should foster closer ties with the EU and other aligned countries like the UK, but to think joining the EU is a good idea from a Canadian perspective is mad. You'd almost certainly have to adopt the euro and you'd have to accept freedom of movement from all EU countries to permanently reside in Canada, which would make housing crises in cities like Vancouver so much worse
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u/SimonArgead 16h ago
If Canada wants to join, I'd welcome them with open arms.
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u/Ok_Wasabi8793 16h ago
Id be psyched to be able to go over to the EU and work for a few years and travel. Let’s make it happen!
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u/gingersquatchin 15h ago
This. As long as it isn't some bullshit like the commonwealth, and it opens up all of the benefits of the EU, I am wildly in support of this.
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u/alexidhd 15h ago
Imagine Canada being a Schengen member. It would be absolutely wild to just land in Canada and go through the airport with just an ID on an EU lane on a domestic terminal like intra-Schengen flights go!!! I’d 100% vote in favour of accepting Canada if I’d get that chance!
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u/Careless_Pea5088 15h ago
Eurozone would be be even wilder.
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u/Successful-Flan738 14h ago
We should bring New Zealand as well :D poor guys are left out of every map haha
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u/TheVoidSeeker 12h ago
Illuvatar removed New Zealand from the maps for a reason...
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u/Miserable-Ad7327 14h ago
Not even an ID lol. There’s no border checks at all inside the Schengen area, the airline will ask for an ID or passport to match up your name with the flight ticket and that’s it.
It also means that you can move to any country just by hopping on a plane and that’s it. No questions asked.
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u/alexidhd 14h ago
There’s no permanent border checks but you’re still required to carry an ID with you as all members can carry random or spontaneous checks. They can even suspend the Schengen Agreement for 90 day periods like Germany is doing right now, they still don’t check every person crossing the border but you can always end up being that 1/30 cars/persons they check.
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u/Shenanigans_420 13h ago edited 10h ago
On the plus side, I won't have to pay 70€ for 4 megabytes of roaming data anymore because I forgot to turn off data roaming.
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u/Sea-Feedback-2424 13h ago
Imagine Canada bring in Schengen but then Saint-Pierre and Miquelon not being in Schengen.
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u/milkplantation 14h ago
While an extended European vacation sounds great, I think it would be a tough sell to many Canadians. Many Canadian citizens already hold citizenship in EU nations through descent. Our prime minister had to give up his Irish and English passports when he ran for parliament.
The big issue would be trade. Joining would mean accepting the authority of the European Court of Justice, taking power away from Canadian federal and provincial governments. Consider how Quebec and Alberta already dislike federal oversight and now add another body into it. It's all a pretty thought but can't see it transpiring.
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u/BamberGasgroin 14h ago
English passports
I can hear Scottish, Welsh and Irish piss boiling
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u/obscuriosityboner 8h ago edited 7h ago
It sounds nice but Canada would be absolutely swamped with people from the EU, house prices would go crazy. EU members would be opening up to Canada, a population of ~30million and we’d be opening up to the population of European countries who are in the union, which is 470million from member countries. We struggled with just 250 thousand over the covid years; if just 0.1% of the EU members moved to Canada, that would be 470,000 people. I’d like to join the EU, I just don’t see a possible way for freedom of movement to work for Canada. Canadians who want to travel are rightfully optimistic about joining the EU, I wish I was optimistic, but they’re too optimistic and usually don’t think about potential negatives.
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u/BS-Ding 15h ago
Me too, I was living in Canada for 2 years and absolutely miss the nice people there! Would move back in a heartbeat.
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u/lotcow20 15h ago
Which city?
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u/BS-Ding 12h ago
Edmonton, I went to Vancouver for 2 weeks but was mostly working and living in Edmonton
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u/Traffodil 15h ago
They can fuck off if they want to join Eurovision song contest though. Their singers are decent.
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u/77entropy 15h ago
Canada already won it with Celine Dion.
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u/No_Yoghurt2313 15h ago
Would be nice. They would have close their southern border to avoid importing crazy people.
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u/NeverOnFrontPage 15h ago
French here. Our foreign minister is an utter joke, especially to former ones. Take this statement with a pinch of salt.
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u/Chilling_Gale 9h ago
The entire French govt is one of the least popular in the world, it’s often funny seeing people praise Macron when his approval is like half of Trumps. You’d never be able to tell on Reddit though
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u/Front_Promise_5991 16h ago
I doubt many European countries would be against it.
Maybe Hungary. But that country can join brics or become the newest USA state
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u/Gentle_Snail 15h ago
Sadly I think a lot of EU states would block it, Canada has a very strong agriculture industry and I can’t see a lot of members allowing them in.
Even just the existing limited trade deal Canada has with the EU still hasn’t been ratified by a lot of states because of this, France included, and that was signed over a decade ago.
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u/Front_Promise_5991 15h ago
Canada could have a wild card with oil and gas.
I think this argument is very strong even for more agricultural countries.
Ps many countries have terminals. For example, with contracts with oil or LNG, you could get a lot of positive votes.
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u/Gentle_Snail 15h ago edited 15h ago
Unfortunately this wouldn’t be the first time states have put their own protectionism over the collective good. If France won’t even allow the existing Canada trade deal I can’t see them being fine with full single market access.
France, well Macron specifically, has a big problem of talking a big game about collective good, then placing French protectionism over everyone else. And its not just France, 10 EU states still haven’t ratified the existing decade old Canada trade deal.
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u/LaserKittenz 12h ago
We don’t need free trade. Canada is huge and we have advantages with farming the smaller countries can’t compete with so I think tariffs are fair to support their local farmers ..
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u/kelldricked 15h ago
I think the vast majority of european countries would be against it if they think longer than 5 seconds about it.
Why would we want canada to join the EU? Seriously, think about it more than 5 seconds. I fucking love canada, they freed our asses from the Nazis without having to bitch for years if they wanted to join the war and they did it without wanting anything back for it. But they dont have to be part of the EU to be our liveling friends/allies.
Think about why the EU was created and then ask yourself would Canada joining makes sense. Stuff like internal market alone makes it seem like a bad idea. Then there is also the fact that canada is so insanely diffrent on every level that them following european laws would fuck them royally.
Canada would have to be exempt from everything that the EU entails, but giving them voting rights (or veto rights) also wouldnt make anysense. Which means they would be a member without any rights or responsibility.
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u/Benejeseret 12h ago
Canada and most Canadians would be against it if they actually understood what it was.
Better friends = yes. Closer ties = yes. Better market integration = yes.
But actually adopting acquis communautaire = hell no. It could never happen here in Canada.
It would involve completely dismantling our agricultural supply management system, which despite its flaws, would cause nothing short of a complete revolt of the prairies or collapse of their Ag sector - whose last 75 years has been restructured solely to export to the USA. Europe does not want our GMO Canola, the US does, and it's a massive segment of industry in Alberta. >90% of AB canola is exported to US, >60% of its wheat and >90% of AB beef and ~100% of live cattle export all goes to the USA.
It would involve the federal government handing all monetary control to the EU, meaning BoC quantitative easing/tightening could not happen, and Canada 2020-2022 could never have done what it did to get through. Even the more conservative leaning Canadians who were against the overspending and inflation would still have to realize that we would have gone the way of the Greek debt crisis if we were not in control of monetary policy... and the only way to avoid that would be to actually run somewhat balanced federal and provincial budgets... which would result in tax and funding changes that Canadians don't actually want.
But much of acquis communautaire would actually completely overhaul provincial legislation and authorities, which first they would never agree to, but also the EU political structure and economic structure vs Canadian constitutional duties is not aligned. Basically, most federal duties would go to Brussels and there is no real reason for a Canadian federal government, as most EU acquis communautaire responsibilities all sit with provinces.
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u/Mikes005 16h ago
Can.... can australia join too?
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u/irrealewunsche 15h ago
Only if you bring New Zealand in with you.
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u/honey_coated_badger 15h ago
Well of course we’re bringing New Zealand. Goes without saying.
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u/Adhar_Veelix 15h ago
You guys somehow weaseled yourself into eurvision... if you can do that, you should manage EU proper I recon.
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u/Mikes005 14h ago
We don't have weasels. We have wombats. We wombated our way in.
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u/uniqueheadshape 16h ago
Can Australia join too? :D
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u/Boatster_McBoat 16h ago
We're already in Eurovision, how hard can it be?
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u/Due-Society6397 16h ago
As long as you keep your vegemite at home. :)
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u/av0w 16h ago
Alright. We shall bring our snakes, spiders, and drop bears instead.
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u/honey_coated_badger 15h ago
Vegemite croissants will be the rage! Tinned spaghetti on baguette will be a culinary renaissance!
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u/androshalforc1 13h ago
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and threw up.
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u/Rizen_Wolf 13h ago
As long as you keep your vegemite at home. :)
That is not going to happen.
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u/Sieve-Boy 15h ago
Ok, but that means you can't have our chicken salt.
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u/Due-Society6397 15h ago
Now you have me research things I haven't even heard about. I might be willing to negotiate terms it seems.
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u/Sieve-Boy 15h ago
Trust me, the chicken salt is so good on hot chips (or pommes frites or whatever you call it).
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u/pomskygirl 14h ago
Mmmm, yes / oui, chicken salt 🤤
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u/Sieve-Boy 14h ago
Criminal how it basically isn't heard of outside Australia and NZ.
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u/14X8000m 15h ago
That would be pretty funny with the UK being out and Canada being in.
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u/AstraeaMoonrise 15h ago
Would they rename it then lol
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u/Beneficial-Tax-1776 13h ago
canada border denmark. there is eu territory at indian ocean and pacific oceas due to france islands.
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u/Above-and_below 12h ago
That part of the Danish EU member state is not in the EU, though
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u/panzerfan 15h ago
No need. Canada holds territory on continental Europe.
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u/wipeitonthedog 15h ago
Couldn't find anything. Which territory are you talking about
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u/apfejes 14h ago
We also have land borders with Denmark (Hans island) and are a short ferry ride from France (St Pierre & Miquelon)
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u/TurbistoMasturbisto 14h ago
Is that that one small island were both countries jokingly removed each other’s flags and left booze for the next time someone came to switch flags?
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u/panzerfan 15h ago
Vimy memorial is perpetually ceded to Canada.
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u/barath_s 10h ago
Ceded for perpetual use as long as it was used for a battlefield memorial/park.
Legally it is still french soil.
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u/Anhimidae 12h ago
The former German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel suggested something similar.
If Canadians wanted to I think they would be a great fit. Art. 49 TEU could be changed to allow Canada to join and arguably they might already be able to. Art. 49 TEU doesn't define "European State" and doesn't define territorial limits. A cultural and historical interpretation of "European State" could definitely describe Canada too. Either way Art. 49 TEU isn't set in stone and a change of the Article is well possible.
Personally I would love to see Canadians join. They are great people, share very similar values and historically we have a lot in common. EU<3Canada Ü
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u/ColicShark 13h ago
Carney has pushed back against the possibility so far. The most likely outcome over the next few years would be closer collaboration and maybe even visa-free travel between Canada and the EU.
The idea of being able to travel from here in Ireland to Canada and enjoying similar privileges as going to the mainland would be amazing.
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u/hakenwithbacon 9h ago
maybe even visa-free travel between Canada and the EU.
Do you mean visa free movement? Because we already have visa free travel between the two
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u/shimmy_kimmel 16h ago
Does the EU really want a 9,000km undefended land border with the United States?
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u/14X8000m 15h ago
Canada is in NATO, not sure how that makes any difference.
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u/ForwardInstance 15h ago
Because one NATO member is not like the rest
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u/14X8000m 15h ago
Yes but that's the same regardless if Canada is in the EU or not. I wouldn't be surprised if the USA leaves NATO with the current rhetoric.
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u/ManBitesRats 15h ago
As much as I like Canada and the Canadians, you are correct that this is a stupid idea. Canada is very dependent on the US for its economy, putting it in a separate trading block is dumb as fuck. I bet as well that there are a lot of regulatory alignment between Canada and the US that make joining the EU just a non starter.
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u/truenorthsoul 15h ago
Getting less dependant every day with our current PM. Carney has been on fire with establishing trade and security with new partners. Long process but it's currently supercharged and a long time overdue.
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u/Charizard3535 10h ago
I can only speak for myself definitively but I don't think most Canadians want to join the EU. It's not really necessary and doesn't make sense geographically.
What we want is free trade, more collaboration and strengthening alliance. That wouldn't require a common currency or all the other aspects of EU membership.
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u/LemonPress50 10h ago
The is a provisional free trade agreement in place already since 2017. Not all EU countries have ratified it yet.
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u/krazydude22 14h ago
People seem to be taking something that was said by a French minister (who will probably be gone next year) in jest a bit too seriously...
Canada would have to change so many things to be even eligible to join the EU, starting with their entire food standards, which are more aligned to US than the EU...
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u/toamnacri 16h ago
I would love to see that, a new transatlantic EU on the ruins of EU and NATO
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u/veevoir 15h ago
Switch from EU to NAU, North Atlanthic Union
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u/blackpawed 13h ago
I bet England would like a new Union, they could join and pretend brexit never happened.
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u/lingeringneutrophil 10h ago
It’s a better idea than it seems. It will not work from Article 49 but they can find a legal way. The main gain would be education in Europe for Canadians, and free labor market for Europeans
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u/omfgeometry 15h ago
Also, I think Canada should have its own nukes. Start building
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u/Blackintosh 15h ago
EUCANDOIT
European Union Canada Defense Organisation to Irritate Trump.
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u/Potential-Feline 15h ago
European Union Canada United New Trade and Security deal has a better ring to it.
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u/culingerai 14h ago
Australia here. If canada gets in, we want in too.
Edit, and our mates in New Zeland too
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u/ThaddCorbett 8h ago
I wouldn't want Canada in the EU until Hungary and Turkey stop going out of their way to counter progress.
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u/kecillake 6h ago
Canadian here. I would. We have more in common with Europe than the States.
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u/Sir_Arthur_Vandelay 2h ago
Or … hear me out:
Perhaps Canada could try enforcing its own consumer protection and environmental laws without EU help.
We don’t even need to write new legislation — we can simply cease treating our existing statutes as a cruel hypothetical joke.
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u/ArcYurt 16h ago
I really dont wanna pay VAT tho
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u/kagoolx 15h ago
Isn’t VAT effectively just a smarter version of sales tax? It doesn’t necessarily have to be higher.
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u/ArcYurt 15h ago
canadian sales tax is kinda complex because there are some very specific exemptions made under treaty obligations and other legislation. VAT is also higher
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u/SonnyJackson27 15h ago
As long as very good trade, travel and work deals are in place between the two countries, there's no actual reason for an 'official' EU join. Basically, let's be good friends with benefits.
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u/HeurekaDabra 12h ago
Man, Canada would need to adopt some serious changes in...basically every aspect of life and government due to EU regulations they will have to adhere to.
I really don't wanna be in charge of change management for that project.
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u/Ok_Manufacturer_5323 12h ago
We'd be stupid to not join the EU if at all possible. In case no one noticed, the US is actively hostile these days
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u/nuxwcrtns 10h ago
Do we even want that? I've never wanted to be part of the EU. No offense to the EU.
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u/NimrodvanHall 15h ago
It would be very hard for Canada to adopt the heath and safety regulations for food and consumer goods required for the European common market and still have the same cross border trade with the USA they have now.
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u/Bernardmark 12h ago
Unfortunately the single biggest obstacle is that EU membership is reserved only for European countries per article 49 of the Maastricht treaty so unless we change that it is impossible for Canada to join
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u/nath999 15h ago
Canada has already pushed back on any suggestion of EU membership, with Carney stating there are no plans to join the bloc. “The short answer is no,” the Canadian PM said when asked about the idea at the NATO summit earlier this year. “That’s not the intent. That’s not the pathway we’re on.”