A further 58 per cent indicated it was a proposal worth exploring further

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[โ€“] 63 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The br*tish would be so mad hahaha

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    [โ€“] 51 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Honestly i find it funny. Lets add australia and New Zeeland too! Britain leaves the union "to have trade deals with australia" then australia joins the EU. Would be the funniest shit ever

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  • [โ€“] 23 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I think you give too much credit to the morons who voted for economic suicide. They didn't vote to have deals with Australia, they all thought we were so big and important that the EU would bend over backwards to give us a favourable trade deal even though every single expert on the subject disagreed. The Australia and Canada deals came up only after we shot ourselves in the head.

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  • [+] 41 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)
  • [โ€“] 13 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    What chance do the Europeans have against Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Shaniah Twain, and Ted Cruz?

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  • [โ€“] 36 points 4 months ago* (6 children)

    Canada is not geographically eligible to join the EU by definition. The founding treaties would need to be rewritten and re-signed by all parties, which does not seem feasible short-term. The way more likely route is more trade agreements and such, which would indeed be good for everyone

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  • [โ€“] 33 points 4 months ago* (4 children)

    Fortunately, in the post-truth world we no longer have to be limited by the meanings of words or historical precedent. We can simply redefine geography whenever it suits us, others are already doing so with impunity. If the Gulf of Mexico can become the Gulf of America and South America can become the United Colonies of America, then why can't Canada become Europe? Nobody gives a fuck anymore. This isn't about getting marked correctly on an assignment, this is about survival in the face of the collapse of world order and building a fortress around social democracy before it's divided and conquered.

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  • [โ€“] 11 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Did you really just "vibe-contract" geopolitics?

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  • [โ€“] 5 points 4 months ago*

    No, Trump did that. Technically Putin got the ball rolling by unilaterally annexing Crimea, and China's been flirting with it for years over the South China Sea and Taiwan. This is the future of geopolitics whether you like it or not.

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  • [โ€“] 12 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    I don't think there is an actual definition of European state in any of the EU documents, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

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  • [โ€“] 7 points 4 months ago

    Actually, you are right and I'm mostly wrong. The Maastricht Treaty just says:

    Any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply to become a member of the Union. It shall address its application to the Council, which shall act unanimously after consulting the Commission and after receiving the assent of the European Parliament, which shall act by an absolute majority of its component members.

    So, what is a "European State" is effectively just a political decision by the Council and Parliament. I guess if Cyprus and Armenia were considered "European States" then Canada is not that big of a stretch.

    Additionally, the next paragraph is

    The conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded, which such admission entails, shall be the subject of an agreement between the Member States and the applicant State. This agreement shall be submitted for ratification by all the contracting States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

    Soo I guess even the Maastricht treaty allows itself to be modified, maybe removing the "European" criteria completely.

    So it's not as difficult as I first imagined, it's just a question of political will from Canada and the EU institutions.

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  • [โ€“] 7 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Also, being in the EU means meeting a lot of product, drug, food, etc. safety standards.

    Just to pick one, to meet electricity standards, Canadian outlets would have to accept Type C Europlug devices and supply them with 230V at 50 Hz. That would mean redoing the entire Canadian electrical grid in a way that would make it incompatible with the American one. I don't think that's realistic.

    More realistic is some variation of the deal that the EU has with Switzerland. Not in the EU but lots of bilateral deals that mostly make the border disappear for travellers.

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    [โ€“] 20 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 child)

    Ok, but besides the bylaws, treaties, & other whathaveyous, afaik Canada has systems (trades, standards) way close to USA than to continental European countries. From the integration pov this would be a giant task. And if Canada would gain significant power (which it would) a lot more of "USA" things & ways of life would leak to "euEU".

    It's a very complex hypothetical question that can hardly be judged via sentiment tracking at "this stage" (which isn't even a stage).

    Nevertheless positive responses are very nice, yay friends!

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    [โ€“] 15 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Canenter, Canentrance, Can'entree?

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    [โ€“] 12 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    How hard is it to move a country to get it into the EU?

    Assuming you don't have a couple hundred million years.

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  • [โ€“] 11 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    It makes sense because right now UE is running so smooothly. Everyone interests are aligned.

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    [โ€“] 10 points 4 months ago (16 children)
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    [โ€“] 8 points 4 months ago*

    Some kind of North Atlantic Trade Organization?

    Or how about my favourite game title from the 90s that I never played: Federation of Free Traders

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  • [โ€“] 7 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I'm up for it just to trigger and over power Trump's permanent term

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  • [โ€“] 7 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    It kinda makes sense when you thinkabout greenland.

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  • [โ€“] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    Higher sales tax but sane policy like GDPR and workers rights by comparison in competition are a strong pull for me in this. I don't hate the idea so long as we don't receive just all the hardships on the bottom while the wealth class get all the benefits. Had Canada actually kept their budget in order and not just pissed it away into debt when they had the chance? I might be more for sovereignty but I'd definitely take advantage of all the additional opportunity to contribute to brain drain if it made sense. I actually think they would find difficulty in keeping Canadians staying in Canada if this was an option.

    Even within Canada I feel trapped by low rent in a high cost of living area and I don't want to gamble on leaving the only leg up I have in the world. Leaving this situation could open me up to so many jobs but the value at the end of the day doesn't make sense because I'd be starting over in rent costs at the current market rate. So I can't make it make sense. This hurts my earning potential lifelong but what good is earning potential if it all ends up in someone else's pocket while I take higher risk positions.

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  • Real Americans support this.

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  • [โ€“] 5 points 4 months ago

    Lately I take the stance of no more member countries until veto is removed.

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