The former German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel has proposed offering Canada partial membership in the European Union. "Maybe not fully integrated like everyone else, but maybe partially," the Social Democrat told the Bremen-based newspaper Weser-Kurier in comments published on Saturday. Europe mu...
Nah we just need a fancy team name for the not-absolute-fuck-head countries.
I mean EU is Europe and I fucking love you guys but down here in Australia we can't just up and move the continent to Europe.
I don't think the name should be dependent on membership like BRICS or whatever because you don't want to have to rebrand when you kick someone out or let someone in.
I think it should include a word like collaborative because honestly, that's what it's about - we're better off working together.
It's also important to choose a name with a catchy acronym that isn't already taken.
I still would not call them European values, it comes of as values that exist in Europe and nowhere else. And I'd rather have compassion, democracy etc everywhere.
It doesn't really make sense for Canada to be a member of the EU simply because Canada isn't in Europe. What we could do is grant Canada a deal similar to what Norway has now. We're one of four members of EFTA, which are part of the EEA without being EU members.
I must admit that my knowledge of Canada is shallow at best but my impression is that its overall values align well with western European democracies.
As much as I like Canada compared to the US, they are not European by any stretch of the imagination. I'd be for free trade and free movement as a beginning, but part of the European Union is a bit much.
Actually, the EU has a whole bouquet of options for countries that want to cooperate with it. It can be trade agreements, free trade area, currency union, Schengen Area and so on. Norway, Switzerland and Turkey are examples of different degrees of associated status.
But be aware that any full EU membership would non-negotiable include the right of not only companies but also people to move freely in the common area - yes, that would mean that any EU citizen has the right to move to and live in Canada, and vice versa, as long as these persons can support themselves.
I wonder what you're thinking of. On just about every issue there's somewhere in Europe further right or further left. Since this is Lemmy you probably don't mean we like immigrants too much.