Canada should move towards integration with Europe instead of the U.S.
Canada should move towards integration with Europe instead of the U.S.
Trump’s chaotic global tariff war, which has upended the international order, shows no sign of letting up. Presidents of the U.S. have long used trade as an instrument of power to assert economic and military dominance over the global economy. Trump however, does so against Canada and other allies—a...
Trump warned he will impose additional tariffs on the European Union and Canada if they band together to “do economic harm” against the United States.
Get @#$%ed, Trump. Good read. Short but detailed about how partnered we are already and what our next priorities should be
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I have no interest in Canada joining the EU, which I see as having a bunch of governance problems of their own, but being close allies with well-integrated and mutually supportive economies via trade and other agreements sounds good to me.
Honestly, the idea floated that Canada would form a bloc with the UK, other commonwealth countries, and the EU, then have that bloc negotiate trade agreements with China sounds absolutely ideal to me. That's apparently already been raised by Carney in private talks on his visits to Europe and the UK. It would unite most of the world and cut the US off unless they changed course on their insane path. That's the foundation for a much more positive world order
Hmm. What level of integration do you think would be too close?
I don't want Canada under the EU governance system, and I don't think it's necessary to join the EU as a member just to have close and mutually supportive relations. Unless the Conservatives win today, we're still quite aligned with the EU in terms of values and commitment to similar international standards and goals, so I think we can form many trade agreements, cooperate on defense, and support similar international institutions, but just doing it with Canada as country that is a friend of the EU and not a member of the EU.
and I don’t think it’s necessary to join the EU as a member just to have close and mutually supportive relations.
It's really, really not. That's maybe the most important thing for everyone to know. Actually being a member is basically just a capstone on top of all the various kinds of coordination we could do, and several countries like Norway just opt not to take that last step.
Not speaking for OP, but here's what I wrote in another comment:
But I would be squarely against closer political and monetary integration with the EU. We absolutely do not need the Euro or the Stability and Growth Pact, and we do not need the various Orbans, LePens and Melonis, or the various debt-phobic Germans and Dutch having any kind of veto over our policies or say over our politics. The Norwegian, Swiss and Icelandic models are good models of EU-collaboration, and we can of course develop our own. We can be very very very good friends, but just like we don’t need to be anyone’s 51st state, we also don’t need to be anyone’s 28th member state.
That's reasonable. Honestly the difference between being Norway and being actually in the EU doesn't seem that huge to me.
The big thing we definitely need is defence guarantees. Eventually America is going to figure out they can't have us non-violently.
Yep. That's more or less how I feel.