Thread

EU Floats Canada Becoming the Bloc's First 'Associate Member'

83 points · 170 comments · helsinkiandrew

rapnie · 1789548419 · focus · HN ↗
The other day in a Dutch geopolitics podcast (Boekestijn en de Wijk) it was mentioned that if there's one country that could be added to the EU "at the stroke of a pen", it would be Canada. In terms of state of the democracy, shared values, etc. And I agree with that perspective. But at the same time I thought that if there's one way to get into conflict with the current US administration - who declared EU their only adversary in the US National Security Plan - this is it. It would be like a mirror image of Russia feeling encroached by NATO, but then in the Western hemisphere. And perhaps a red cloth invitation to the frothing bull(ies) of the Trump administration to invade their neighbor.
1. WinstonSmith84 · 1789548729 · focus · HN ↗
  The US-Iran war is very unpopular and it's not even that the US is winning it.
  Going against Canada would mean .. what? Having tanks roll in Toronto downtown? Assuming it would be a military success, which isn't guaranteed after what happens in Iran,that would be unpopular beyond anything we've seen.
  Tough words, that's the worse we may expect from the US gov realistically.
  1. rapnie · 1789549956 · focus · HN ↗
    > Tough words, that's the worse we may expect from the US gov realistically.
    Trade wars and sanctions can get very nasty too. I don't know about Canada, but most of the EU runs on US Big Tech to name just one sensitive sector.
    nolok · 1789550262 · focus · HN ↗
    It's a two way street; sanction on big tech is also the big weapon the EU has against the US if need be and that we kept threatening but never activating.
    Which doesn't mean it's easy or won't hurt like hell, but this is a continent that just cut most of the gas cord lines in record times despite massive pain and cost, if it came down to it we would simply because if it comes down to this and we don't then we're done.
    Short time it would damage us pretty hard, but long term it would be another net loss for the US.
    Tomte · 1789550406 · focus · HN ↗
    America is a big importer of toilet paper from Canada. :-)
    jjgreen · 1789555103 · focus · HN ↗
    The UK could sell them Izal instead, they'll fold in months ...
    <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2we30p661o" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2we30p661o
    Lio · 1789562801 · focus · HN ↗
    How? They stopped making that stuff years ago.
    They whole point of that article is that it's a weird, curious thing from the past that doesn't exist any more.
    Lio · 1789562481 · focus · HN ↗
    > I don't know about Canada, but most of the EU runs on US Big Tech to name just one sensitive sector.
    That's true, right now. The way things are going though the EU is spurred to finally cut the cord with US Big Tech because of the security risk.
    It didn't used to be like that before Trump got into power. Trump is bad for business because he's an unreliable partner that's turning on his allies.
  2. nolok · 1789550110 · focus · HN ↗
    From what I read about what they wanted Canada to sign (the "new deal" Canada walked out of), they want to give them strict conditions and no abilities to make new deals with someone else to make them fully dependant. So the goal was not really military conquest but economic stranglehold. All the while apparently asking to tone down their minorities including the french one.
    There is an alternate timeline where Canada signed that, and it looks much bleaker for them down the road.

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