European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union is opening the door for Canada to become the first associate member, a status that does not exist under the bloc’s treaties.
Good. This helps protect Canada from the US. Also, if there is a civil war in America, refugees can use Canada as a way to get to Europe. Many innocent lives would be saved by that possibility.
Speaking for myself as an American, I like the idea of being able to visit Canada and to spend my Euros over there, if the need arises. I swapped my life savings of American Dollars into Euros, since I am expecting a Greater Depression to be in the works. Not being destitute is a comforting thought for me.
Sorry to piss into the punchbowl, but just getting asylum in one EU country does not entitle anyone to live in the rest. Also, even if Canada gets in Schengen, mass migration events cause border checks to come back, even now.
If you can get full Canadian citizenship, that’s another matter.
Joining the Eurozone is also something that takes a decade at least, a lot of EU countries still have their own currency despite joining in the last millennium.
So there is no real possibility of a US mass migration event to Europe, especially with the politics the current US elite is funding in Europe.
It’s just occurred to me that if Europe is successful in creating this new status, it could also serve as a stopgap status to offer Ukraine until Ukraine meets the requirements for full membership.
Merz already proposed it and Ukraine turned it down.
Having other nations with the status might change that, especially if it makes full members easier to accomplish later.
Could also be applied to the UK and Switzerland, if they wanted it. Though in a more permanent way that’s similar to how they would use it for Canada, not the same way as for Ukraine.
Unlikely to include Switzerland; they seem to prefer to keep each agreement separate and subject to periodic renewal. Seems unnecessarily awkward to me, but that’s how the Swiss like it, I guess.
There is one defining aspect to the Swiss, and that is amoral greed. No involvements or entanglements with anyone or anything if it can at all be avoided, no responsibility to say no to any corrupt source of money. The corrupt, morally bankrupt but otherwise very solvent tax oasis for Europe, always ready and willing to take in anyone and anything with money. Nazi politicians looking to avoid the consequences of their policies, russian oligarch money, saudis, you name it. All are welcome as long as nobody does anything that would force the Swiss to take a stand.
as an Australian i’d love Australia to join as well
Ye’re probably better off not drawing Trump’s attention
I believe there is already a status for “candidate member”
Yeah, the EU’s reality is that they want candidate members, but not new members. The candidate status is a multi-stage process with requirements for the country, which can be dragged out for decades. As soon as the country joins properly, it can pull a Hungary and start demanding stuff from the EU and holding joint initiatives hostage with its votes, while backsliding in their own politics.
I’m guessing the ‘associate member’ status is approximately like turning the candidate thing permanent, without obligation to ever make a country into a member or accept any demands.
This is the way. Strength in alliances and numbers. The Burger Reich is now a rogue state that should be considered as dangerous as Russia (if not more, given the mental instability of the Pedofuhrer) so we should do as much as we can to form a bloc capable of surviving the inevitable downfall of it.
Fuck that shit. Glad that election are coming fast and most member are dissatisfied with eu. That shit need to be reform quick
Nice statistic. You made it up yourself or did someone help you?
"52% of Europeans tend to trust the EU, the highest result since 2007. In another 18 year-record, 52% of Europeans say they trust the European Commission. At the same time, 43% of EU citizens continue to have a positive image of the EU, while 38% have a neutral image and 18% have a negative image of the EU and 62% of EU citizens are also optimistic about the future of the EU. "
United against a common enemy, tale as old as time!
The extra gouvernemental organasition with leader that were never elected find they are the best and must pursue. What a surprise.
VdL is as elected just as any prime minister in a regular parliamentary democracy. Her Commission can also be voted out of office anytime by the directly elected EP.
So no citizen vote ? Seem like oligarchy to me.
Yeah let’s the ruling class choose the mega ruler. It will certainly be in my best interest
So you support the destruction of the member states as well? Most of them are parliamentary democracies as well.
Mb ut doesn’t imply the same stuff at country lvl and a t multiple country lvl. I dont think u need public transport to do 500m doesn’t mean I dont think u need public transportation at all
I have no idea what you are trying to say here. Nor do I have the faintest idea what it has to do with my comment above.
Share other survey. I’ll wait.
Look at richest country in the ue and the number fall
Monaco? Wow, that must be like 20.000 people who are against EU. Crazy stuff.
U had tow type of county in the eu. The one that give money and the other that get money. Unreal u dont know that. Look at how many country give more than they get.
Yes, the UK was one of those countries who “give more than they get”. Look where they are now. Why? Because the assholes who argued that they “give more than they get” conveniently forgot to mention all the advantages of being in the EU that are not directly money.
Please look further than the arguments of your favorite politician.
So you are saying that the EU is controlled by Germany, yet Germany is the one who has to give? At least get your arguments consistent if you don’t want look like someone merely repeating Russia’s talking points.
While I agree that there’s always room to improve, I struggle to understand why you think this is a negative development. Is joining the EU as an associate member worse for Canada than not doing so? Why/why not?
Worse for me as an european. For canada it could be good, I mean at this point anything for them is good
How is the weather in Peterburg?
Yeah eu opposition can’t existe organically…
Kinda strange to even think of that in the first place
They always call themselves critics, yet commonly demand its functional destruction. How does your “organic opposition” differ in its outcome from what Russia and the US proganda demands? Elaborate.
Cause my interest and country interest diverge from eu interest???
My organic opposition is simply the defense of my interest .
Which happen cause the eu doesn’t defend mine but rather German and globalist agenda which doesn’t suit my country.
Not a single concrete argument, just the “Its all just a German Empire” Russian conspiracy theory.
Come back when you can answer my question from before.
Next they’ll accept Japan as “honorary
AryansEuropeans”What a weird take on this.
Making this kind of special status for Canada, a country that is very obviously not in Europe and is basically on the opposite side of the planet and has zero geographic connection to Europe, is transparently about Canada being a white settler colony.
Why not Egypt? We know why.
The mental gymnastics are almost impressive
They will never invite a non-white majority country to have the same associate status, except maybe Japan, since they’d be grandfathered in by Germany.
In 2026 the answer is very clearly “because Egypt is a military dictatorship”.
Associate membership status would have been amazing as a democracy-stabilizing force in a few Arab Spring democracies during the 2010s. The example I’m mostly thinking of is 2011-2019 Tunisia, which actually had a chance at becoming a real democracy.
Precedent: In 1974, the perspective for EU membership was a major stabilizing factor for the nascent Greek democracy, and locking it in 1981 was basically the masterstroke for the 3rd Greek Republic to stay democratic. Those 7 years were crucial. Similar stories for Portugal and Spain, after their own dictatorships.
A similar window for the democracies of Tunisia and Egypt came and went and the EU failed miserably at throwing them a lifeline. But one can still dream. A post-apartheid Palestine/Israel for example might be a fantastic candidate for something like this, especially if Lebanon and Turkey join the process at the same time.
We have to still beat back the latest wave of fascism, and we shouldn’t sell the bearskin before hunting down the bear. But one can dream.
There was never a window for Tunisia and Egypt, because they aren’t white.
EU associate status is exclusively for white-majority countries. Over the next ten years I expect them to offer it to more and more associate members, this seems like a good way to grow the EU’s power, but we’ll see the same preference for whiteness as we see here.
If Israel lasts into the next decade they’ll probably get a spot.
You can call it “white majority” if you want to be cynical, or you could also call it compatibility with a country that was pretty much built (in current incarnation) with a strong origin in European immigration, and still has many citizens who have strong roots/ties back to Europe with strong overlaps in law and common culture. The origin influences the skin color yeah but that doesn’t mean the skin color itself is the deciding factor.
The idea that there’s some kind of “European” culture is racist gibberish. Europe is made up of many cultures and languages and national identities, it wasn’t that long ago that they couldn’t stop killing each other, and now you want me to believe there’s something that unifies all Europeans that doesn’t apply equally to countries in Asia or Africa?
The idea that Europe even exists is racist. It’s not a real continent, just look at it! It’s an Asian subcontinent, but Europeans were too racist to share a continent with Asians, so they made up “Europe” for their maps.
Well, yes, that is the obvious but cynical trajectory. But I’m getting tired of cynicism. It’s too easy. I’d much rather normalize utopian thinking and talk as if the solarpunk Mediterranean union is a real possibility. Only things that can be imagined can be built.
