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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'

#441

Post by [deleted] »

T-RN-R wrote: post #285
cmiles8 wrote: post #158

This would be Canada getting down leveled to the minor leagues. Yes there are a few issues with the US, but Canada is vastly better off playing on the world stage under the wings of the US than it would be as the EU’s “associate member.” The next phase of history is going the be China and the US and then everyone else scrambling for scraps.

What in the world is this train of thought? Do you not understand that the American President has directly threatened Canadian sovereignty multiple times over the last 2 years, even if under the auspices of “trolling” or “jokes”? In addition to that, the President is seeking direct control over Canadian trade relationships, control over its natural resources and all while attempting to destroy its industrial output.…

[deleted]

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

#442

Post by FabCH »

ngruhn wrote: post #369
shevy-java wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> > Common defense was already agreed anyhow. > Where and how? NATO presumably

NATO, but also more importantly SAFE 2026.

Canada gets significantly better deal than any other non-EU country.

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

#443

Post by softwaredoug »

mitxela wrote: post #414
softwaredoug wrote: post #58

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.

The EU shouldn't become the US. EU countries are sovereign, with the practical right to completely ignore what the EU tells them to do, and this is a good thing for now. If an EU country legalizes weed, federal troopers do not march in, arrest all the weed dispensary owners and march them to federal prison because those things don't exist.

Ok but you have to accept that means an EU country works with a hand tied behind its back.

In the US I can start a company and instantly have a market of 350M. Start a company in an EU country, then try to expand to another country, it’s a nightmare. That company will have a lower upper bound on market size.

The EU might be a success in coordinating on regional issues, but I don’t think it’s yet an asset to the European economy.

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

#444

Post by gizajob »

QuantumNomad_ wrote: post #207
moeadham wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EEA you have to follow rules but get no say in said rules.

Will Canada have to follow the rules? Will Canada have a say in the rules?

Follow, yes. Say, very little.

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

#446

Post by Maskawanian »

jcfrei wrote: post #434
Maskawanian wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unsurprisingly, people in different parts of the world hold different values. Europe is generally more focused on actual people and how their lives live, than simply accumulation of wealth among the few. It is unsurprising that they focus on different things.

That's easier said than done when you are competing in a global economy. The US is actually getting more consistent here: It starts to become more isolationist (through the trade war and specifically tariffs) and as a result will have more leeway in choosing their own mix of workers rights, compensations, taxation, etc. Sidenote: Of course consumers will be worse off as a result. The EU however is in this weird spot…

Thanks for replying to a comment I didn't make. It is clear that your mind is full of American exceptionalism, I'm done in this comment thread. Thanks for your contribution.

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

#447

Post by huijzer »

neom wrote: post #75

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. :)

> The Americans are no longer our friends

We say as Europeans while interacting daily with USA engineers and other people here on HN - a site ran by Silicon Valley investors - while we usually talk about USA-made software. I personally do not hold every American accountable for the actions of their government.

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

#448

Post by pbasista »

The sad part is that the US could very well have had made such a trade and companionship deal with Canada themselves. Or even a better one, should they wanted to.

They used to have an excellent relationship with Canada, the UK, with the EU and with other civilized and democratic parts of the world. Until Trump started to undermine everything. And have selfish and unfair demands against everyone.

Now the US has a "comradeship" with Venezuela, Russia and North Korea.

I know that the above is perhaps an exaggeration. But the fact that the US now has worse relationships with almost all the civilized, democratic parts of the world and is bowing down to dictators and authoritarians does not come from external factors. It is all self-inflicted. Including the Iran war and its consequences.

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

#449

Post by [deleted] »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #406
toasty228 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ought to take No one is taking anything here, but I think the american mind cannot comprehend complex things such as having allied and building agreements

American here. Only a third of us are MAGA. Still plenty to ruin our country though.

[deleted]

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

#450

Post by fidotron »

Sharlin wrote: post #410
fidotron wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes being involved as little as possible but no more far more attractive than being bound too tightly together though. Almost like many of the EU states were misled into their current situations.

How so? Many EU states have benefited enormously from being on the receiving side of EU subsidies, which obviously would be out of the question without full integration. Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland have rejected membership, which essentially means that as EEA members they have to observe all the EU regulations and agreements when it comes to trade, without having any say about them. They have their reasons, but…

It literally privileges people in countries outside the EU by giving them more rights than those inside.

Which many people inside the EU would observe seems completely consistent with EU behaviour.

Edit to add: "Being misled" would refer to the way the EU was sold to many participants in earlier decades as an economic union, and not an all encompassing political one, with it simply ratcheting that way. Whenever objections occurred referenda would simply be repeated until the populations complied. It's far from the exercise in democracy that proponents promote. (This is distinct from saying it is _all bad_).

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