Thread

Canada welcomes EU proposal to become 'associate member'

284 points · 354 comments · witweb

philippemnoel · 1789655073 · focus · HN ↗
As a Canadian, I find this unbelievably good news. Canada, the EU, and other middle powers need to unite. Stronger together, while preserving what makes each country unique.
1. orochimaaru · 1789655424 · focus · HN ↗
  Are there any tangible economic benefits here? Or is it just a label?
  1. Angostura · 1789655566 · focus · HN ↗
    Does low-tariff trade and easier freedom of movement offer benefits?
    orochimaaru · 1789656021 · focus · HN ↗
    That’s for full EU members part of the economic union. There is a whole process for that which takes a few years. Britain had a good deal which they threw away (use their own currency but they’re a part of the broader economic union).
    There’s already visa free travel from Canada to the EU and trade deals in progress. It’s unclear what specific benefits the associate member deal provides.
    1over137 · 1789656977 · focus · HN ↗
    Tourist visa. But this may end up including student and/or work visas.
    hylaride · 1789659358 · focus · HN ↗
    While I would love to be able to live in Europe at-will, but it'll probably mean specific employment visas that will be relatively easy to get (similar to the USMCA T1 visas). I'd be happy if Canadians would be able to use the EU passports lines, though.
  2. arecurrence · 1789655591 · focus · HN ↗
    Carney's speech is here <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Y9eFJFZfo" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Y9eFJFZfo
    The text of the speech is at <a href="https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2026/09/17/prime-minister-carney-delivers-address-european-parliament" rel="nofollow">https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2026/09/17/prime-minis...
    The wording is such that it sounds like he is pushing a very ambitious portfolio. It appears that the idea is to make this a model for a new alliance that will include other countries over time.
    The other deals Canada has made with the EU have been very substantive. CETA was the first major trade deal that the EU passed.
    noir_lord · 1789657390 · focus · HN ↗
    > build more secure broadband connections between Europe and Asia via our common geography.
    That made me do a double take and then rewind (I watched the full speech in the background), that's a fairly seismic shift if followed through and will reshape the internet over the next few decades (go look at a current fibre map for global internet links, they pretty much all route through the US and land in the UK), having an alternative path through Canada into the UK/Europe is a big change.
    pjc50 · 1789657677 · focus · HN ↗
    Interesting from a surveillance point of view. Are we going to end up with the Four Eyes?
    noir_lord · 1789658294 · focus · HN ↗
    I do wonder how much of that still applies anyway, the extremely cosy/informal relationship between the five members can't really work in a world where one member is threatening to annexe the territory of one and support the annexation of another.
    Trump wading into the Falklands debate was catastrophically stupid (not that I would expect otherwise) and chopped the legs out from the people who'd support him/their style of politics here.
    So was threatening Canada, that's how he ended up dealing with Carney which from his PoV was the much worse outcome.
    pjc50 · 1789673193 · focus · HN ↗
    I suspect that the various staff of the permanent ("deep") state who roll their eyes at democratic accountability are just continuing to do their own thing together. Especially as they tend to have conservative politics and the same personal list of friend and enemy countries that is not easily updated.
    noir_lord · 1789680145 · focus · HN ↗
    Probably, even if the instruction comes down from on high to not co-operate so much institutional inertia (and decades of working together) will keep it going for a while, likely til the senior folks retire.
  3. bryanlarsen · 1789655601 · focus · HN ↗
    Europe and Canada are going through a very significant "buy local" phase. If Canadian goods are considered local from the European perspective, that opens up a lot of opportunities.
    criddell · 1789655990 · focus · HN ↗
    What does buy local mean if goods shipped from the other side of the planet are considered local?
    sandworm101 · 1789656324 · focus · HN ↗
    It means neither will be buying american, which is "good" in that it helps cut ties with the US, which is what america seems to want.
    thayne · 1789661842 · focus · HN ↗
    It is what people in control of the US government seem to want. Which is not the same as what the American population wants (although there is a subset that wants it). As an American, it is absolutely not what I want.
    badc0ffee · 1789752737 · focus · HN ↗
    If only there was a way for the government to represent the will of the people.
    icedrift · 1789656493 · focus · HN ↗
    The same thing, "buy American" means to an American. I.E. A New Yorker might prefer timber from across the continent in California even though Canada is right there.
    WarmWash · 1789658321 · focus · HN ↗
    Considering most liberals still are doing this "We considered an EV but a gas car was still is cheaper" song and dance, I would bet all my money that people just stick to whatever is cheapest, as they always do.
    gonzalohm · 1789656633 · focus · HN ↗
    Local as in the same economic area
    ninalanyon · 1789656999 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't think the movement is "buy local" it's more "buy from people we trust".
    madibo3156 · 1789657130 · focus · HN ↗
    Maybe it's something like "make purchasing decisions that maximally bolster your local economy, in aggregate, in the long term, where you deem it suitable for your needs"? Doesn't roll off the tongue though. Buy local.
    mantas · 1789656428 · focus · HN ↗
    Aye, let's redefine what „local“ means and keep buying globally. Same BS as with mercosur and all other global trade deals.
    1over137 · 1789656895 · focus · HN ↗
    >Europe and Canada are going through a very significant "buy local" phase.
    Not exactly. The sentiment I see is more like ‘buy anything but USA’.
    toasty228 · 1789657503 · focus · HN ↗
    Buying local is to cut transportation/pollution, not to buy from your friends...
    bryanlarsen · 1789657619 · focus · HN ↗
    Buying local in 2026 mostly means weaning oneself from Google/AWS/Meta/etc.
    toasty228 · 1789658368 · focus · HN ↗
    99% of people don't know what aws is... buying local is mostly for physical products, food, etc. I know we're on HN but come on lol
    bryanlarsen · 1789658548 · focus · HN ↗
    It's called the "Buy European" movement in Europe and the "Buy Canadian" movement in Canada (aka Elbows Up). Walk into a store and there are little maple leafs on the price tag of every Canadian product.
    I apologize for confusing by trying to simplify with the buy local tag, which is different.
    gls2ro · 1789662522 · focus · HN ↗
    If this alliance will be signed and has the support of people from both sides then Buy Canadian and Buy European will mean Buy European or Canadian.
    We might need a new name for this in 10 years if it works.
    Like Buy EuroCan or But Caneu (maybe better names)
  4. iAMkenough · 1789655972 · focus · HN ↗
    Did you not read the OP?
    > In his address, Carney said Canada and Europe could strengthen their "strategic autonomy" through "deep co-operation in the full range of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals".
    > He said Canada could supply liquefied natural gas and hydrogen to support European energy security, while benefiting from Europe's expertise in clean-energy technologies.
    > He also proposed pooling technological resources and deepening "people to people ties", including allowing young people to "work, study and live where they want on either side of the Atlantic" through Canada joining the EU's Erasmus+ programme.
  5. [deleted] · 1789656159 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
2. ibic · 1789655566 · focus · HN ↗
  As a non-Canadian, I find this a very good news also. You said it well. What I didn't expect was that things could move at this lightning pace. Well done, EU & Canada!
  1. EGreg · 1789656138 · focus · HN ↗
    Trump is playing 5D chess! The Iran war, the feuds, all of it... He wanted the world to unite like this, and for green energy to displace fossil fuels quicker! One day he, not AOC or Bernie, will go down in history as the President who did more for green energy than any other.
    sandworm101 · 1789656225 · focus · HN ↗
    The orange path.
    nolok · 1789657141 · focus · HN ↗
    (given your nickname, this was your moment and you caught it)
    sandworm101 · 1789662056 · focus · HN ↗
    Plans within plans.
    abirch · 1789662418 · focus · HN ↗
    Trump has normalized the government taking equity stakes in corporations. Something that AOC or Bernie may find useful
  2. danmaz74 · 1789656192 · focus · HN ↗
    As someone who is very much in favor of this, let's remember that for now we're only at the announcements level. Any binding changes in the EU require a long process - if anything else, because there are 27 member states, each of which have veto power. But I'm hopeful that facts will follow these announcements.
    microtonal · 1789656680 · focus · HN ↗
    That's true, however, under all the recent pressures, everything is much more fluid. Especially because 'associate member' does not exist yet as a status, I think they could do things much more incrementally compared to full memberships.
  3. nolok · 1789657362 · focus · HN ↗
    It's a bit funny saying all the naysaying comments, "this is just a name", "you have an ocean between each other", ...
    Yeah, it's only a name, that name represent a reciprocal want to work closer together and do something. What, how, we will figure it out, the fact that people on both side of the exchange are all for it says so.
    We're not idiots we know there will be hurdle, on one side you have the federal country that managed to convince the french Quebec to stay and on the other you have 27 countries who managed to convince each other to work together, we will figure it out.
    tharmas · 1789658857 · focus · HN ↗
    I have a feeling that this "made up name/category" will be a pretext for fast-tracking whatever they want to do with Canada-EU relations without the other members voting on it since the last one they tried to do is 10 years on and still pending.
    nolok · 1789659251 · focus · HN ↗
    Who are "the other members" in your message? Because if you mean all the 27 of course their government has to give approval, just like they did for the last one too
    tharmas · 1789662279 · focus · HN ↗
    But that's what i mean by this new category, its so they (EU brass) can circumvent the approval process. That's what I suspect.
    nolok · 1789669366 · focus · HN ↗
    But they can't? That's not how this works? Who do you think can do anything in name of the EU, beside either the parliament, or a body made of the named representative of each government?
    There is no "they" in the EU that can do anything that isn't also constituted either equally or proportionally by each and every member.
    cayleyh · 1789663907 · focus · HN ↗
    Specifically I think this will be true around defence procurement: Canada was just added as the first non-EU state in the EU SAFE defence agreements, and just did a major booth at the International Defence Industry Exhibition EU defence trade show. They decided to buy new subs from Germany instead of Korea, and have slow-played the new fighter acquisitions and will potentially replace at least some F35 orders with Saab Gripens. And they have a new deal to start manufacturing Ukrainian designed military drones in Canada (partnership with Ukraine announced last week iirc?).
    If getting this status helps simplify process and costs of EU<->Canada military procurement, then it will be a clear win for both sides given the current desire to reduce dependence on US defence providers.
3. ls-a · 1789655729 · focus · HN ↗
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4. laylower · 1789656613 · focus · HN ↗
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5. mistermann · 1789657908 · focus · HN ↗
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