Stranger than fiction.

andy_ppp 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Why? Seems the US doesn't like democracy anymore and the EU for all its faults still does. I can see Japan joining too and potentially South Korea, Philippines, and others who are concerned about the state of the world and want to work together rather than drive the world apart.

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Chance-Device 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If I’d said to you last year “Hey! I bet Canada is going to join the EU! No, of course not as charter-violating full member, as a newly invented ‘associate member’!” You’d probably have said “That’s both crazy and oddly specific, the chances of that have to be approaching zero”.

That’s why.

	▲	ben_w an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Yes but also "associate member" is, despite specificity, less surprising than full membership would have been. Same as economic gravity meant that Brexit didn't disconnect UK from EU it only made trade harder, neither this kind of deal nor full membership can be much more than a band-aid for Trump's BS, it won't fully compensate for the harm he and his administration are doing to Canada.

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ra 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think the world would be jumping into alignments like this if the US hadn't spent the last 80 years building a "nuclear umbrella" for the "western alliance" with itself in the centre.

I bet many countries would prefer to disassociate with US foreign policy right now if they weren't security dependent.

I expect after this destructive episode in history has played out, if we're all still alive and free in another decade then there will be alternative umbrellas.

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ExoticPearTree 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

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nutjob2 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Do you have anything at all to contribute besides mindless EU hate?

The mentally enfeebled only seem to be able to parrot hateful things they don't understand that they read on some social media cesspit.

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ExoticPearTree 2 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

	▲	vrganj 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I live here. I talk to older people. They tell me about the horrors of WW2 and how glad they are the EU succeeded as a peace project. Before the EU, we had centuries of cruelties between what are now members of the same block. It might be good to expand your perspective a little. Standard of living isn't just the economy.

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nolok 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Even ignoring your point that I massively disagree with ... It's not about joining the EU at all so what are you talking about

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trolleski 2 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

	▲	nolok 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I thank you for this very high level analysis that gives absolutely zero actual content or details because big funny words, but I think we have to agree to disagree on that one. And on the climate policies in particular, my personnal belief is that we haven't gone far enough fast enough, limit access to our market to product made using climate respecting or restoring ways should have been the rule decades ago already. I know some people look at the way the world climate is changing and think "ehh so what / it's not really us doing it", but that's not how we see things here.

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ben_w 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Reality doesn't need to be plausible; we're all characters in each other's first-person narratives, with no access to the voice of an omniscient narrator.

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nolok 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean, it's only what the US is doing that's strange.

It's a country with tons of raw resources and a large consumer market, they're the "dream partner" for the large blocks (USA/China/EU, and Japan/India a bit behind). You buy their resources, they make a lot of money from it, you turn it into a final product and you make a lot of money from the value added, everyone is happy.

It's really weird that the US is suddenly not happy about this arrangement, and for resource-starved EU it's a golden opportunity; of course we will happily buy if the US doesn't want to anymore. That's why there is so little friction showing up (there will be more later, of course, but relatively little), why Canada can get so many deal quickly with everyone during this turnaround, it's that obvious of a win for everyone involved.

(as usual, the key blocking point that will need lots of work will be food, even more than it is with the US, I wish we could scrap that entire part to get a v1 going quickly but alas it's not how trade deal work)

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tick_tock_tick 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> (as usual, the key blocking point that will need lots of work will be food, eve more than it is with the US, I wish we could scrap that entire part to get a v1 going quickly but alas it's not how trade deal work)

I mean food/dairy/autos (which is also a major EU issue) have been 90% of the issues with Canada/USA trade for decades too so I have my doubts of them figuring it out any better.

I guess Canada is way more motivated then ever before as rapid souring of the relationship with the USA from this point would be a near economic collapse for them.

	▲	nolok 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		CETA (the existing EU/CA one) is also being bogged down in some country including my own (France) because of some food issues, so I think everyone involved knows. And while you're correct about Canada being extra motivated at the moment; so is the EU. It's such an absurd situation that we know the "urgent pivot need" might slow down a lot if adult come back in charge in the US. Same reason why so many want to sign so quickly, it's like gold on a platter AND Canada win too, you don't spit on that offer.