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

bbc.com

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

#41

Post by 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.

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

#42

Post by krona »

noir_lord wrote: post #2

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.

70% of Canadian exports are to the US. 6% to the EU. Why would e.g. Poland want to enter a trade war with the US on Canada's behalf?

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

#44

Post by graemep »

N_Lens wrote: post #8

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

The world was already moving on from US hegemony. China is already a super power, other economies are growing, and the west in general (i.e. all the countries mentioned here) are a shrinking proportion of the world economy (and population, or military strength).

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

#47

Post by InsideOutSanta »

0xpgm wrote: post #6
noir_lord wrote: post #2

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.

One thing that is common about middle democracies is that prioritize a bureaucratic elite structure over an entrepreneurship culture, while both the US and China embrace entreprenuership wholeheartedly. If they changed that they'd perhaps become world powers themselves.

It's interesting to me that people generally see Europe's regulations as interfering with entrepreneurship, while they see American decisions that give more power to multinational corporations at the expense of smaller companies as a normal part of a free market.

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

#48

Post by pasc1878 »

krona wrote: post #42
noir_lord wrote: post #2

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.

70% of Canadian exports are to the US. 6% to the EU. Why would e.g. Poland want to enter a trade war with the US on Canada's behalf?

Because Trump is trade warring everyone.

The middle democracies will do better fighting together and not deal with US individually.

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

#49

Post by consp »

krona wrote: post #42
noir_lord wrote: post #2

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.

70% of Canadian exports are to the US. 6% to the EU. Why would e.g. Poland want to enter a trade war with the US on Canada's behalf?

Isn't the point that there already is one?

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

#50

Post by usewik »

cisc wrote: post #24
nephihaha wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about friendship but money.

It's more about predictability. America's become erratic and untrustworthy. America's made a deliberate choice make its reputation worse.

Eh, on a long enough timeline we have seen this and been there before. US is the beacon of democracy and the free world until it is not, and then until it again is. Depending on who is speaking and about whom and when.

Most of these attention grabbing statements by politicians are usually about scoring political points at home. The only thing worthy of judgement are hard facts, and excruciating details, which are yet to materialize on this topic.

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