EU chief opens door for Canada to become 'associate member'

noir_lord

Good, if the middle power democracies don't align/work together they are going to get torn apart in the struggle between the US and China.

karlkloss

Nearly 60% of EU LNG imports come from the USA. If Trump doesn't like Canada to cuddle with the EU, then it won't happen. This is all a big pain in the back.

N_Lens

Australia is also seeking a closer alliance with EU and Canada. The world is moving on to a post Us-hegemony era. All it took was Trump & Republicans

tvbusy

Good news. This world needs more cooperation and friendship.

yorwba

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723424 (49 points 2 hours ago, 120 comments)

nephihaha

The EU is running out of Europe. I thought Turkey or North Africa would be the next steps. Maybe Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

maelito

Bienvenue les amis.

pards

51st state? Pfff. How about 28th EU country!

cronin101

Is this the path to a Bizarro World future where the Commonwealth realms become associate members of the EU to slowly unBrexit? I don't hate the idea

Barrin92

I'm proud to live in the EU because for all its faults we have one thing going for us, we seem to be the only large institution that countries still want to voluntarily join, and can voluntarily leave. In a world in which the other great powers revive the Monroe Doctrine or threaten their magnitude smaller neighbors with annexation we're not doing so badly. There is an inherent pettiness, weakness and fake strength in autocracy and force and it's often why I think the EU receives so much disproportionate hate.

dude250711

Could retroactively mean Earth Union. Let the good ones like Korea and Japan also join.

mannycalavera42

Yieppieeee!!! Love you Canada! :waves from Italy

softwaredoug

I’m not sure this is a good thing for Canada. The EU feels like an incomplete experiment. Not strong enough to actually be a single market. But still able to create additional annoying regulations on top of nation level ones. The EU needs to be truly Federal to succeed economically. That might create uniform regulations with more uniform regulations and actually make Europe competitive.

harhargange

From Blackberry to a budding VFX industry and many other sustainable businesses to come out of Canada has always made it seem like a very EU-like philosophy. This will be great for fair trade.

neom

No idea what this actually means, if it means easier trade, I'm all for anything that reduces our dependency on the yanks, as long as we don't need to be involved in their regulatory or legal regimes. The Americans are no longer our friends, Salut, mes amis Européens. :)

ReptileMan

Von Der Leyen has a stellar track record of successes in both internal and external EU affairs. She is an inexhaustible well of good ideas and great policies. When such suggestion comes from her I am sure it is great idea for both Canada and EU.

Grombobulous

Maybe this is a naive statement, but it seems like full membership including open borders between Canada and other EU states and adoption of the Euro would also be beneficial to everyone involved. The UK should continue to be embarrassed and ashamed to leave such an incredible institution, although at this point we can say that they clearly don’t deserve the EU anyway.

shevy-java

Leyen babbles a lot. I have absolutely nothing at all against Canada and EU getting closer, but please don't dance when Leyen whistles - that leads to nothing but uselessness. She should have never been in politics to begin with - the absolutely worst person for the job.

sailfast

If I’m Canada I look for a trade agreement rather than associate membership - no reason to put your eggs in one basket. As an American, I continue to be sad and tired that our current president is somehow allowed to unilaterally destroy a very successful and thriving trade partner via arbitrary tariffs that have already been ruled illegal and while it doesn’t make a damned bit of difference I’m sorry about it.

nickslaughter02

> Canada's Bill C-22 Would Force Encryption Backdoors > Signal, Windscribe, and NordVPN say they'll pull out of Canada before building surveillance infrastructure. The biggest threat to encrypted communications in a Western democracy since Australia's 2018 law. https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/canada-bill-c22-lawful-... + > European Commission Revives Push for Encryption Backdoors in ProtectEU Strategy, Framing Mass Surveillance as “Lawful Access” > The EU’s ProtectEU strategy quietly sketches the blueprint for a backdoor. https://reclaimthenet.org/eu-protecteu-strategy-encryption-b...