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EU chief opens door for Canada to become 'associate member'
- marbleotter115 17d ago[dead]
- karlkloss 17d agoNearly 60% of EU LNG imports come from the USA. If Trump doesn't like Canada to cuddle with the EU, then it won't happen. This is all a big pain in the back.
- N_Lens 17d agoGood thing EU is investing heavily in renewables then.
- altern8 17d agoThose wind turbines are destroying the scenery, though.
- ohyoutravel 17d agoExactly. I prefer seeing pumpjacks and hydrofracking equipment, just like all red blooded capitalists.
- altern8 17d agoI've never seen a pumpjack nor any hydrofracking equipment. I have seen a few capitalists but I can't be positive they were red-blooded ones (whatever that means).
- ohyoutravel 17d agoThe red blooded thing was tongue in cheek. Go visit California. Eat at In n Out. You may see a pumpjack next to the place you’re sitting enjoying your animal style fries. They’re pretty common. I don’t mind them really, but do find them to be equally / neutrally as a wind turbine in the area (also common sight in California), admittedly the wind turbine is sleeker and more modern, but the pumpjacks have more history.
- RugnirViking 17d agoonly if you're weird and think they dont look lovely?
- altern8 17d agoWhy, do you like them? Solar panels are even worse. Here in Poland they're covering entire fields in the countryside, I have no idea why they don't build them on parking lots or on factory roofs.
- RugnirViking 17d agoof course. Ive not met a person that doesn't like them, either. I love hiking and have travelled pretty wide across europe. Solar panels are similarly lovely to see. I'd just as rather see them than a uniform field of corn or maize or somesuch thing. I can't understand the mindset that objects to such things? is it just a straight up childish nimby "I don't want ANYTHING to be built" or would you prefer natural gas+coal power plants ? or any other built structures for that matter (I think they are better than concrete buildings etc - they are white tree-like things, thin with smooth curved surfaces, or rows of curious purple and black panels swiveling to face the sun)
- altern8 17d agoI mean... Different people have different opinions. I would prefer nuclear
- RugnirViking 17d agoI'm sorry I came off a little hostile. I do find it hard to understand how people can be so opposed to such clearly necessary infrastructure on purely aesthetic grounds. Compared to all the things that could be built, it seems like the aesthetic harm is so small (a six lane highway, an industrial plant, a train line, sewage processing plant, refuse pile, the list goes on and on) - all of these must be built in places too. I can't see how anyone can think themselves anything but lucky that they get wind turbines near them instead
- _ink_ 17d agoNot as much as 4°C temperature increase will do.
- AlexandrB 17d agoCanada has a proven, safe reactor technology[1] and Uranium to spare. This is a good synergy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor
- fidotron 17d agoThe LNG won't come from Canada either. Trudeau notoriously said "there's no business case" for it, but the truth is they can't agree with how to actually get enough of it to the east coast to make a difference, and that's what blocks it. (In fairness the route does go through some very unique environments). Canadian provinces have a far bigger ability to screw things up for the whole than countries do inside the EU, and people remotely familiar with the EU will understand what a strong statement that is.
- jonapro 17d agoIf by screw things up you mean retain some level of governance then yes... Canada is a confederation, not a federation.
- post-it 17d agoCanada is definitionally a federation.
- post-it 17d agoWhere there's a will, there's a way. There hasn't been a will until now.
- fidotron 17d agoThe only "way" involves greasing the palms of every special interest group in the way until they have successfully accounted for the whole potential revenue of the intended enterprise, and that's what blocked everything repeatedly. I'm in Quebec and very familiar with the exact territory this has applied to wrt getting resources out on the east coast, and unless someone was willing to rule by decree to bypass all those entrenched groups it's not happening, and we all know why such decrees would not happen as well.
- post-it 17d agoThey'll ship it out of Churchill. The only special interest groups are Indigenous and they rarely successfully hold up projects that are actually important.
- hengistbury 17d agoPetro-states are destroying their trust as they try desperately to cling on to the power fossil fuels have given them. Thankfully this makes renewables even more attractive than just their lower cost.
- llm_nerd 16d ago> If Trump doesn't like Canada to cuddle with the EU, then it won't happen. The US is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. It has barely any friends in the world, and its economy is on perilously shaky grounds. Crybaby Bessent is desperately trying to scare the bond market, but a run for the exits and the US will be fucked. Yeah, Trump is totally just going to cut them off, bro. The fossil fuel companies, that basically run your government, will totally be cool with that too, because they love not making money and accelerating the transition off of their wares. American delusions are amazing stuff. As a Canadian it has been astonishing seeing Americans constantly think they have the upper hand in everything (if they sell you something, well then you have the upper hand, but also if you sell them something, well then you have the upper hand, and....) and then getting frantic and crazed when it turns out...other people have "hands" as well. Eventually it all turns over to "yeah well we'll invade you!" because that's all you really have: A third world life expectancy and a social idiocracy, but yay you have a trillion dollar military!
- noir_lord 17d agoGood, if the middle power democracies don't align/work together they are going to get torn apart in the struggle between the US and China.
- nixass 17d agoNon-aligned movement 2: electric boogaloo
- xyzsparetimexyz 17d agoThey're very clearly aligned
- gpvos 17d agoNot really with the US anymore. Anyway, I think you missed this reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
- debugnik 17d agoDoes it really count as non-aligned if the observer states are very much aligned?
- sheepjumpmoons 17d agoThe point was non alignment with the two superpowers.
- bryanlarsen 17d agoBoth Russia and China are observer states within the non-aligned movement.
- gpvos 17d ago
- 074287432996 17d ago[flagged]
- ahartmetz 17d agoVon der Leyen sucks, but not in that way. She is an unscrupulous careerist with a talent for failing upward - and she failed a lot. More of a system abuser than a system changer.
- N_Lens 17d agoAustralia is also seeking a closer alliance with EU and Canada. The world is moving on to a post Us-hegemony era. All it took was Trump & Republicans
- graemep 17d agoThe world was already moving on from US hegemony. China is already a super power, other economies are growing, and the west in general (i.e. all the countries mentioned here) are a shrinking proportion of the world economy (and population, or military strength).
- N_Lens 17d agoNot if we kick off WW3 as a last ditch attempt to hold on to the old order ;)
- 9dev 17d agoYou jest, but if you've ever seen a wounded animal fighting like mad for survival, I wouldn't be so confident that won't be the exact same things that's going to happen.
- desterothx 17d agoYou don't have to look into the animal kingdom, history works too. No ruling empire has fallen silently and without conflict. Changing the world order always included an aggressive transfer of power
- actionfromafar 17d agoThe British Empire dismantling wasn't exactly peaceful, but it could have been much worse. Next to India, everything else becomes a rounding error.
- graemep 17d ago
- tvbusy 17d agoGood news. This world needs more cooperation and friendship.
- nephihaha 17d agoIt's not about friendship but money.
- wood_spirit 17d agoThere is a friendly trusting common values part to this too.
- cisc 17d agoIt's more about predictability. America's become erratic and untrustworthy. America's made a deliberate choice make its reputation worse.
- usewik 17d agoEh, on a long enough timeline we have seen this and been there before. US is the beacon of democracy and the free world until it is not, and then until it again is. Depending on who is speaking and about whom and when. Most of these attention grabbing statements by politicians are usually about scoring political points at home. The only thing worthy of judgement are hard facts, and excruciating details, which are yet to materialize on this topic.
- arethuza 17d ago"US is the beacon of democracy" 40 years ago I probably would have agreed with this statement - these days, not at all.
- usewik 17d agoThis was a kind of example, and not really the point of my comment. Though to illustrate further, there are many examples one might find of US acting undemocratically even 40 years ago. So, politicians will talk, governments will be in power, and the observers will discuss. My invitation was simply to discuss known facts not political rhetoric. And main facts are largely absent and unknown.
- yorwba 17d agoPrevious discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723424 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723424 (49 points 2 hours ago, 120 comments)
- redsocksfan45 17d ago[dead]
- nephihaha 17d agoThe EU is running out of Europe. I thought Turkey or North Africa would be the next steps. Maybe Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- graemep 17d ago> I thought Turkey or North Africa would be the next steps. Maybe Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Not white enough for the EU. There is a lot of opposition to even Turkey, which is already in customs union, joining and talks are dead specifically because EU countries do not want immigration from Turkey.
- InsideOutSanta 17d agoSure, but Turkey is also an authoritarian autocracy, which I think might be a bit of a problem for the EU.
- ReptileMan 17d agoThat won't be a problem for long. The native Europeans are swinging to the authoritarian right, the newly naturalized are very selectively for liberal democracy - aka the parts that directly benefit them, not the parts that make it liberal, and the liberal democrats are straight out refusing to have kids. So in 50 years Tukey will border authoritarian regime either way.
- mcv 17d agoTurkey has been a candidate member since forever, but instead of addressing the many problems they need to fix before entry, they're making it worse.
- arethuza 17d agoFear that Turkey would be "imminently" joining the EU was one of the scare stories used by the Brexit campaign in the UK.
- 17d ago
- maelito 17d agoBienvenue les amis.
- RRRA 17d agoOui, j'ai hâte que l'on partage d'avantage avec l'Europe que les É-U... Bonjour du Québec.
- musha68k 17d agoSalut ben fort d'Autriche ! On joue tous ensemble. Cheers to closer ties, Freunde.
- LeBit 17d agoJe suis tellement heureux de constater que Carney bouge rapidement. Au début des annonces des tarifs, plusieurs experts disaient que de se découpler des américains étaient impossible à court terme. Nos économies sont trop entrelacées pour changer de cap rapidement. Je ne sais pas exactement ce que Carney a en tête , mais j’espère que ça va accélérer le découplage.
- 52-6F-62 17d agoIl a écrit un livre dans lequel il aborde ce qu'il a dans la tête. C'est une bonne interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g0nLGZIzhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g0nLGZIzhc (Anglais, désolé) Mais les cas les plus extrêmes en Amérique sont relativement récents...
- tsss 17d ago[flagged]
- pards 17d ago51st state? Pfff. How about 28th EU country!
- cronin101 17d agoIs this the path to a Bizarro World future where the Commonwealth realms become associate members of the EU to slowly unBrexit? I don't hate the idea
- ChrisRR 17d agoI wouldn't be surprised if Scotland eventually leaves UK and joins the EU. Part of the reason they voted to stay in the UK was so that they could remain in the EU, and then brexit happened
- gizajob 17d agoThat can’t happen though because they’d be without a currency in the interim period and it’s also baked in to the EU’s treaties to make this difficult else places like Catalonia and the Basque Country would break away and join the EU, so there are barriers in place to make this less than quick or easy.
- jeroenhd 17d agoIt would be rather foolish, but they can continue using the GBP. Or they can start using the Euro before joining. They wouldn't be able to mint their currency, but plenty of small (often island) nations use foreign currency already. Scotland is already a separate country, technically speaking, so I don't think it's comparable with the Basque situation. Furthermore, with the UK leaving the EU, they've opened doors that non-EU members can't use to work around such issues. I don't think it'll happen soon, but the desire for independence does seem to be there to a significant extent already: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/09/13/irish-scots-and-welsh-leaders-meet-to-plot-break-up-uk/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_tw_post_to-plot-break-up-uk/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/09/13/irish-scots-... The largest problem for an independent Scotland trying to join the EU would probably be that the EU doesn't just let anyone join. You need to have a strong enough economy and a grip on national debt to join.
- gizajob 17d ago
- Barrin92 17d agoI'm proud to live in the EU because for all its faults we have one thing going for us, we seem to be the only large institution that countries still want to voluntarily join, and can voluntarily leave. In a world in which the other great powers revive the Monroe Doctrine or threaten their magnitude smaller neighbors with annexation we're not doing so badly. There is an inherent pettiness, weakness and fake strength in autocracy and force and it's often why I think the EU receives so much disproportionate hate.
- graemep 17d agoThe UK left, Iceland just voted not to join. The EU does not have a military to annex any neighbours with. Individual states do, but non are really great powers any more.
- penguin_booze 17d ago> The UK left Yes, you can read all about how that came about, and how it's going. > The EU does not have a military to annex any neighbours with. Individual states do, but non are really great powers any more. You're projecting an American ideal. Not all nations are--nor want to be--America, and we're thankful for that.
- graemep 17d ago> Yes, you can read all about how that came about, and how it's going. Yes, it seems to have made no difference. economically - economy performing much the same as France and Germany. Lots of lives saved by the faster covid vaccine rollout which is a plus IMO. > You're projecting an American ideal. Not all nations are--nor want to be--America, and we're thankful for that. You are missing my point. Not annexing anyone when its not an option because you cannot does not prove anything. I have never even been to America - why would I project an American ideal?
- khalic 17d agoedit: removed, didn’t properly read the context
- callamdelaney 17d ago[flagged]
- jurmous 17d agoWhy? For me as a European it is pretty clear we need to cooperate to not be swooped away by the other big powers.
- dude250711 17d agoCould retroactively mean Earth Union. Let the good ones like Korea and Japan also join.
- mannycalavera42 17d agoYieppieeee!!! Love you Canada! :waves from Italy
- softwaredoug 17d agoI’m not sure this is a good thing for Canada. The EU feels like an incomplete experiment. Not strong enough to actually be a single market. But still able to create additional annoying regulations on top of nation level ones. The EU needs to be truly Federal to succeed economically. That might create uniform regulations with more uniform regulations and actually make Europe competitive.
- lnxg33k1 17d agoI am not sure, if I see the example of US as federation, it might work well for corporations only, but people have nothing, uniformity doesn't work because not all populations have the same needs/expectations
- softwaredoug 17d agoMaybe, but it’s way too difficult to do business in the EU. Not because I think regulations are bad. But regulations need to be well designed with clears lines on what the Federal / State are allowed to do.
- Epa095 17d agoIts hard because its 27 different countries, but they are working on making it less hard. Many startups are made in Europe, but then bought up (often by Americans) or moves to USA when its time to expand outside the single countries boarders. Canada has the same problem. Canada has made it pretty clear that they do not want to be part of the big country south of it, so they will have to find a way to create large companies that stays. Doing this together with a market of 450 million people seems like a good idea.
- _ink_ 17d ago> but it’s way too difficult to do business in the EU. They are working in it: https://www.eu-inc.org/ https://www.eu-inc.org/ I have no clue whether that will be a success, but at least they have recognised that problem as well.
- 17d ago
- harhargange 17d agoFrom Blackberry to a budding VFX industry and many other sustainable businesses to come out of Canada has always made it seem like a very EU-like philosophy. This will be great for fair trade.
- NuclearPM 17d agoBlackberry is a sustainable business?
- bpye 17d agoBlackberry might not be, but RIM are still around, QNX is still in use.
- musha68k 17d agoFrom Glenn Gould to Wayne Gretzky, from ATI to AdLib and Matrox we've always loved Canadian "exports" here in the EU. Let's work together!
- PyWoody 17d agoYou might want to look into Gretzky's political beliefs before "importing" him.
- deleted 17d ago[deleted]
- alibarber 17d agoFrom having worked extensively in it, the VFX industry, apart from being near to Hollywood in terms of time zone, is surely just a tax rebate competition. Which is actually very non-EU philosophy; member states cannot simply subsidise local industries from tax revenue - it is a single market, other members have to have equal access to your market as your local companies. Of course there's plenty of ways around it. In the case of film production, if the script calls for the characters to be in a specific location - then it's now a cultural asset that the government can fund with rebates. The person writing the script is of course aware of this and the incentives available.
- neom 17d agoNo idea what this actually means, if it means easier trade, I'm all for anything that reduces our dependency on the yanks, as long as we don't need to be involved in their regulatory or legal regimes. The Americans are no longer our friends, Salut, mes amis Européens. :)
- peebee67 17d agoThis is a sinking ship trying to lash unwitting tenders to it to try to keep it afloat while it rams an iceberg. Canada does not need that kind of trouble.
- Rover222 17d agoSeriously. Not to mention that Alberta is trending towards independence (still unlikely, I know).
- dmos62 17d ago> as long as we don't need to be involved in their regulatory or legal regimes EU has such a bad name in these circles. As a EU citizen, I cherish these same regimes.
- Autious 17d agoYeah, I'm curious about which ones are a problem. I could see there being some incompatibility, and the details are more interesting than sweeping statements. Some regulations would have to be normalized and agreed upon between the countries for trade open up. Can't have different quality standards and ways of evaluating and declaring them.
- nonethewiser 17d agoPPWR is an obvious one. Its such a dysfunctional law that they actually told people to ignore it.
- 17d ago
- ReptileMan 17d agoVon Der Leyen has a stellar track record of successes in both internal and external EU affairs. She is an inexhaustible well of good ideas and great policies. When such suggestion comes from her I am sure it is great idea for both Canada and EU.
- cs02rm0 17d agoGood old broomsticks-for-guns lady.
- jeroenhd 17d agoMercosur, sanctions against Russia and Belarus, defence of France after the AUKUS fiasco, an intent to cut down reliance on natural gas, an ethics commission following the Qatari corruption scandal, the European green deal, European defence plans, she's done plenty of good. She's also done plenty of bad things on the political theatre, but it's not like everything she does is destined to be a failure.
- ReptileMan 17d agoWar in Ukraine is still waging, can't comment, war in Iran showed the brilliance of importing LNG, ethics commission will find no wrongdoing, stupid idea, vaporware ...
- Grombobulous 17d agoMaybe this is a naive statement, but it seems like full membership including open borders between Canada and other EU states and adoption of the Euro would also be beneficial to everyone involved. The UK should continue to be embarrassed and ashamed to leave such an incredible institution, although at this point we can say that they clearly don’t deserve the EU anyway.
- gizajob 17d agoYes but someone will need to step in and adjudicate once everyone in Europe has enough of living in the United States of Germany and there’s another war over it.
- Grombobulous 17d agoIs that happening? The EU is the most desirable citizenship/passport in the world.
- gizajob 15d agoGive it time.
- Grombobulous 15d agoMoved the goalposts from “it’s bad now” to “wait and see in the future it’ll be bad.” I might as well say that people in the Netherlands can’t keep up riding their bicycles much longer because they’ll get tired of it.
- sajithdilshan 17d agoExcuse me, have some respect for the 4th Reich
- gizajob 15d agoI do have some respect for it, because I’m from the actual 1000 year reich. I’ll congratulate them if they can get to 100 without falling apart. They only made it to about 12 years last time.
- shevy-java 17d agoLeyen babbles a lot. I have absolutely nothing at all against Canada and EU getting closer, but please don't dance when Leyen whistles - that leads to nothing but uselessness. She should have never been in politics to begin with - the absolutely worst person for the job.
- graemep 17d ago> She should have never been in politics to begin with - the absolutely worst person for the job. A description that fits a lot of politicians!
- sailfast 17d agoIf I’m Canada I look for a trade agreement rather than associate membership - no reason to put your eggs in one basket. As an American, I continue to be sad and tired that our current president is somehow allowed to unilaterally destroy a very successful and thriving trade partner via arbitrary tariffs that have already been ruled illegal and while it doesn’t make a damned bit of difference I’m sorry about it.
- cmrdporcupine 17d agoWe have that trade agreement (CETA). Negotiated by the Trudeau gov't a long time ago. Notably many member states (incl. France) have not fully ratified it. The majority of its benefits are in place but not all. Which doesn't bode well for the actual on the ground reality of any "associate member status." I expect it will be mostly symbolic/diplomatic. (Which is also fine)
- gostsamo 17d agofunnily, they already have a trade agreement, though not fully ratified.
- diego_moita 17d ago> I continue to be sad Don't be. Trump is a necessary and welcome wake up call. We Canadians needed Trump's shock of reality. The truth is that, for more than a century, the main trait of being Canadian was simply not being American and not trusting Americans. In 1775 George Washington ordered the invasion of southern Quebec and we resisted. After the American revolution we received an huge influx of Loyalists, the Americans that didn't want to be part of the U.S.; we say the American Revolution created 2 countries: yours and ours. In 1812 Americans raised war against us, as a continuation of the Napoleonic wars. Although we were still a British colony, we fought back, invaded Washington DC and set the White House on fire. In 1890, the McKinley Tariffs were meant to subjugate us, the same way Trump wants to do now [1]. They backfired, made us stronger. But in the 80's the Reagan-Mulroney trade agreement fooled us. We became too reliant, friendly and confident to the Americans. It was a dangerous illusion. The Comanche, Apache and Navajo have learned too late that you can't trust Americans. Luckily for us, Trump reminded us that lesson on time, before it would be too late. [1] https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/the-u-s-tariff-act-of-1890-was-meant-to-hurt-canada-instead-it-made-us-stronger/ https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/the-u-s-tariff-act-of...
- nickslaughter02 17d ago> Canada's Bill C-22 Would Force Encryption Backdoors > Signal, Windscribe, and NordVPN say they'll pull out of Canada before building surveillance infrastructure. The biggest threat to encrypted communications in a Western democracy since Australia's 2018 law. https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/canada-bill-c22-lawful-access-act-encryption-backdoor-signal-vpn-exit-2026/ https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/canada-bill-c22-lawful-... + > European Commission Revives Push for Encryption Backdoors in ProtectEU Strategy, Framing Mass Surveillance as “Lawful Access” > The EU’s ProtectEU strategy quietly sketches the blueprint for a backdoor. https://reclaimthenet.org/eu-protecteu-strategy-encryption-backdoor-law-enforcement https://reclaimthenet.org/eu-protecteu-strategy-encryption-b...
- pbkompasz 17d ago[flagged]
- nickslaughter02 17d agoFrom which country? I was from the US last time, Russia before that.
- brnt 17d agoSame thing nowadays innit?
- CJefferson 17d agoWell seeing as both Russia and the US want to mess with Canada and Europe, it’s doesn’t make that much difference, bot wise.
- cmrdporcupine 17d agoBoth of these things can be true (and things we as Canadians have to aggressively oppose) but at the same time, it was the US that pioneered such gems as: the PATRIOT act, Stellar Wind, PRISM & Section 702 (FAA), Upstream Collection & AT&T Splitter Rooms (Room 641A), Bulk Telephony Metadata (Section 215, the Post-9/11 NYPD Demographics Unit, the Data Broker Loophole (Commercial Surveillance Purchase). Oh god, I could go on all day. Or did/does things like extraordinary rendition to Guantanamo, or the illegal rendition of Canadian citizen Maher Arar to a Syrian torture facility while he was traveling through the US, or even just taking tourists phones and looking at the anti-Trump memes they've shared and detaining them. Any "libertarian" American pointing fingers at Europe and Canada as somehow more repressive is living in an ideological echo chamber. The targets are (sometimes) different but every "western democracy" set up oppressive regimes post-9/11 that should outrage anybody. Both "left" and "right" in the US are living in a delusional world if they think their constitution is worth jack shit as any kind of protection in the 21st century.
- oliwarner 17d agoIt's a bit wishy-washy; they're just saying "we're better off working together" not actually doing something. I can't imaging Canada would be looking to align its standards and laws with the EU. Don't get me wrong, the EU does a lot of things that make it both safer and better, but it makes things more expensive to make, and that only works when there isn't a wild-west next-door-neighbour. It's hard to compete when your biggest and nearest export market has looser labour and product regulations than you. Of course Canada can do more trade with the EU without broad regulatory alignment, it just seems weird you'd need to announce it. Please flood the timber market.
- speak_plainly 17d agoI’m hopeful that closer ties with Europe could give Canadians a chance to learn from European agriculture and food culture. Canada needs a new perspective in how we produce and sell food here. I’d love to see us move away from a food system dominated by crappy US-style highly engineered, ultra-processed products and toward a much greater variety of fresh and minimally processed foods, stronger regional production, and a richer everyday food culture. I would welcome EU grocery chains and food producers to shake things up here and bring some sanity back to Canadian food culture.
- haunter 17d agoWonder how does Morocco feel about this becasue they applied to be an actual full memeber before s and they are geographically closer too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco%E2%80%93European_Union_relations#Membership_application https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco%E2%80%93European_Union...
- mindwok 17d agoThey would probably argue “European nation” is cultural and not geographic. Morocco is officially Muslim and not a full democracy, the EU isn’t ready for that I don’t think.
- squidbeak 17d agoFull membership isn't Association Membership. The article you reference mentions that the EU condemned Morocco for human rights abuses in 2023. So perhaps Morocco should clean that up before feeling anything about this.
- diego_moita 17d agoGood. We get better cheeses, wines and other fine food. They get maple syrup, Atlantic lobster and Manitoba flour. Win, win.
- cmiles8 17d agoThis would be Canada getting down leveled to the minor leagues. Yes there are a few issues with the US, but Canada is vastly better off playing on the world stage under the wings of the US than it would be as the EU’s “associate member.” The next phase of history is going the be China and the US and then everyone else scrambling for scraps.
- data-ottawa 17d agoWhat specifically do you mean “under the wings of the US?”
- JimTheMan 17d agoThis kind of move by Canada indicates that perhaps it believes the US to be unreliable and in decline? A necessary move, because the US isnt acting like an ally anymore. Hence the increased cooperation and agreements with the EU and China.
- akie 17d agoWell, it's up for Canada to decide, right? RIGHT?
- shoobiedoo 17d agoAnd won't the dems just undo all this tariff nonsense anyway? Or is Canada acting like a bitter ex after a breakup who vows to take their seething to the grave no matter what
- patcon 17d agoI think the metaphor you're looking for is from the "USA as an abusive ex" angle, not a "bitter ex" metaphor that shifts blame to others...
- llm_nerd 17d agoBitter ex? This is amazing. The US is a completely broken country, and simply switching governments will not change that. Without a complete and utter change in how that entire country operates -- including dissolution -- no country should ever normalize relations with it again. The US is by far the world's most dangerous rogue nation. It is a terroristic nation. It is a bully. It not only elected a rapist self-dealing criminal imbecile to president, it elected him again, seeking a round two after the utter debacle the first term was, and the disastrous results are exactly what everyone could predict, but you know...this is who America is now. And a big reason Canada is moving on is that it's pretty clear that the US is a country in spectacular decline, and it is China's century now. Which is maybe why the US is electing disgusting garbage like Trump -- and he's certainly not alone, and there are various garbage "football coach" type creeps filling the entire US political class -- lamenting the position they once held, now going down the Russian/Putin path where they'll accelerate the crash just to reminisce about a past that mostly never existed. EDIT: I should add that agreements with the US are worthless, and this has been amply demonstrated. As Carney noted, the US' signature is written in pencil, and even agreements signed by this very president mean nothing, and will be dishonoured at the earliest convenience. In recent trade negotiations, where Canada almost made a horrible mistake of accepting ridiculous terms to maintain the status quo as much as possible (sidenote: Canada absolutely must withdraw from USMCA, a Trump-signed and negotiated agreement that the US is in utter defiance of), they asked "so when we sign this, you'll then honour it?", and the US side couldn't even commit to that. They knew that it could be days before the rapist toddler had a twitter tantrum after one of the kleptocrats whispered in his ear and imposed new barriers, tariffs, etc. Like, what is even the point of negotiating with such a farce? A lawless cabal led by just the absolute worst human trash.
- slopinthebag 17d agoim canadian but this feels performative yes i get it, stick it to the USA. yay patriotism. suddenly thats cool and not problematic for some reason. and im also all for less restrictive coordination between nations. it's all performative in the end. but like, this feels basically like "stick it to trump" and not anything meaningful.
- cmrdporcupine 17d agoI agree and at the same time I'm all for it. Almost a decade on and most Canadians don't seem to realize we already have CETA (free trade) with the EU. It's not fully fully ratified but it's there. It's why our grocery stores have been slowly filling with European products we never had before (Yay!) For example: It's already cheaper for me -- as a consumer -- to import sporting goods (skis, etc) from the EU than it is from the US. (And often less shipping hassle too, oddly). And yet distributor arrangements often still funnel everything through the US, first as "North American distributor" models. Incurring shipping and sometimes even tariff overhead. (Looking at you Scarpa, North America. You suck.) Even if all of this is symbolic, it may at least shift perceptions on our side of the Atlantic so Canadian businesses at least start looking to Europe more seriously as both importers and exporters. People often forget our country was built on an east west shipping and transport axis with the St Lawrence (and later the Pacific) as outflow, to supply Europe (mainly Britain). It was only later that north-south trade became more important economically. Shipping manufactured goods across the Atlantic to European customers may end up cheaper for them than shipping from China in some circumstances. I'm maybe also a bit biased, I currently work for a European employer.
- slopinthebag 17d agofunny cuz i still cant buy european butter :P best we can get is "european style" id love to just move to somewhere in the eu and be able to freely work there. thats how it should be in every country btw. until then, it seems like more performance, which carney has seemingly mastered.
- cmrdporcupine 17d ago
- 0x10ca1h0st 17d agoIf that be the case, maybe we the USA ought to take the UK and Ireland as an associate state of the USA.
- thih9 17d agoIreland is part of the EU.
- toasty228 17d ago> ought to take No one is taking anything here, but I think the american mind cannot comprehend complex things such as having allied and building agreements
- throwaway894345 17d agoAmerican here. Only a third of us are MAGA. Still plenty to ruin our country though.
- deleted 17d ago[deleted]
- LastTrain 17d agoHalf. The other sixth that vote that way are also MAGA
- throwaway894345 17d agoNah, they're independent and they've swung pretty hard away from MAGA once it affected their personal finances. Far from noble, but also pretty far from MAGA.
- LastTrain 17d agoNah, if you voted for him three time you’re MAGA for the purposes of this thread, which is basically a response to someone saying “all you Americans are dumb assholes”
- rocke_dong 17d ago[dead]
- _aavaa_ 17d agoWould that means Canadians would be protected by the GDPR and DMA?
- ChrisRR 17d agoNo it wouldn't. Other EU associate members have their own data protection laws, some of which align with GDPR
- teekert 17d agoThe "Common Foe" principle at work.
- mrhcon 17d ago[flagged]
- ololobus 17d agoI have no idea how we do it, but I think we should somehow ban the expansion of all the existing unions (EU, CIS, NATO, whatever else we got). The overall worldwide tension is pretty high, but now - US goes after South America and Greenland - EU goes after Canada and Georgia (country), which is just ridiculous in terms of geography - Russia invades Ukraine and goes after Eastern Europe and Middle-East to some extent - China does its expansion too Even though some of these actions are just political nonsense, it still increases the overall level of escalation. This is not what the world needs right now Trade agreements and unions — yes, please; yet another political or military union expansion — please, God, no. I understand that EU is a mix of both, but also do think that this is a purely political game against Trump
- toasty228 17d ago- US goes after South America and Greenland - EU goes after Canada and Georgia (country), which is just ridiculous in terms of geography Absolute brain dead comparison
- throwaway894345 17d agoI’m an American, and I don’t see it as a purely political game against Trump—my country has dramatically shifted its position toward its allies from reliable partner for 80 years to aggressive antagonist both in trade and military. And it’s not just a rogue president—a full third of the US electorate supports these actions. It makes sense to me that these countries would want to build new trade and security alliances with countries who have similar interests and who face similar threats. The alternative to these defensive military pacts is that Russia or the US or whomever can literally invade and annex countries piecemeal to expand their power. If we can’t effectively ban that, then it doesn’t make sense to me to ban the only thing that deters it today.
- jeroenhd 17d agoThe US invaded South America and is treatening to invade Greenland, just like Russia is invading Ukraine. The EU is offering enhanced trade relations with Canada and Georgia. Those are completely different things.
- 17d ago
- canadiantim 17d agoAye, please no. We don’t want to be the 28th EU state any more than we want to be the 51st EU state.
- jeroenhd 17d agoAn associate state is not a member state. It's a funny name to give a country with a specific kind of trade deal and understanding.
- Epsilon_Tauri 17d agoThe EU itself is becoming increasingly integrated with the free movement, common currency, aligned education system etc etc, but these things take a lot of time, not the least identity-wise. For sure, my children feel more European than I did growing up in what was then a non-member state. So outright membership is likely not the route for overseas friends, but it seems we are inexorably moving towards a closer cooperation between a group of democratic countries outside the sphere of non-democratic China and ever more erratic US. Hopefully this will be an association which is less dependent on one single member than the western world has been under US lead. It seems very likely the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK would be part of this. Japan and Korea are still very US-dependent but given the lack of enthusiasm the US is showing its former allies, this may change quickly. I also expect growing cooperation with some of the south-American countries. The world is definitely under realignment politically.
- illiac786 17d agoInexorably is not the word I would use. It’s hard work. UK is a good example of how fragile it remains, even after decades of membership.
- Sammi 17d agoEU got stronger when UK left. Brexit proved the value of EU.
- noir_lord 17d agoHonestly yes and I say that as a Brit who voted Remain who has an EU national missus. Our constant in/out wasn't great for the EU as a whole and it's now very hard to argue that pissing off your largest trading partner (by nearly a factor of 4 over the next one which is the US) was a catastrophic mistake. Still that's democracy, even when it doesn't go the way you wanted. Was/is the EU perfect, nope - it has all kinds of problems that are going to need addressing but was the UK in totality better off in the EU, yep.
- 16d ago
- skissane 17d ago> The president of the European Commission has backed proposals for Canada to become the EU's first "associate member". Article 238 of the original Treaty of Rome, which is now article 217 TFEU, provides for the EU (or its precursors) to enter into "association agreements" with non-member states, e.g. Turkey has one of them. Many current EU members (e.g. Greece) had them before becoming members. A lot of 1970s/1980s sources referred to these states as "associate members of the EEC" – but it seems like everyone has forgotten that.
- goobatrooba 17d agoIt seems the nuance here would be between association agreement and an associate member which presumably is more integrated. E.g. EU candidate countries are joining many technical meetings and are invited to listen in to some Council meetings, can express views on important legislation, etc. I could imagine a similar status for Canada, but without the candidate label and neither the financial benefits or legal obligations to work towards regulatory alignment.
- konradx 17d agoEurope definitely needs to find replacements for the USA as a trusted partner. The US now supports Russia in its war against Ukraine, imposes random tariffs, pressures European companies over DEI (I'm not particularly woke myself, but I think equal opportunities regardless of race, for example, is a good idea), and makes threats against Greenland, Canada and Iceland. It also puts pressure on free speech and EU digital rules: the US imposed visa bans on former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, an architect of the Digital Services Act, and four anti-disinformation activists, and I believe it also had his Microsoft email disabled. Add to that climate denial, the war on science, threats to leave NATO, antivax etc. I believe many countries will unfortunately turn to China, since even China is more predictable than the US.
- severino 17d ago> The US now supports Russia in its war against Ukraine Let's be serious. If the US supported Russia in its war against Ukraine, there would be no Ukraine now.
- sajithdilshan 17d agoI guess it’s a good idea as long as Canada can only join the free economic/labour movement zone.
- cineticdaffodil 17d ago[dead]
- gla67890543 17d agoBrian berletic posted a brilliant video on this. This is just Canadian government and oligarchy doing a job of a vassal of USA.
- nelox 17d agoWhy not a free trade agreement?
- vrganj 17d agoThat already exists: https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/canada/eu-canada-agreements_en https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-cou... This is about much more than that.
- m4ck_ 17d agoAlberta separatism efforts by the US/Russia are probably about to be cranked up to 11.
- draw_down 17d ago[dead]
- pbasista 17d agoThe sad part is that the US could very well have had made such a trade and companionship deal with Canada themselves. Or even a better one, should they wanted to. They used to have an excellent relationship with Canada, the UK, with the EU and with other civilized and democratic parts of the world. Until Trump started to undermine everything. And have selfish and unfair demands against everyone. Now the US has a "comradeship" with Venezuela, Russia and North Korea. I know that the above is perhaps an exaggeration. But the fact that the US now has worse relationships with almost all the civilized, democratic parts of the world and is bowing down to dictators and authoritarians does not come from external factors. It is all self-inflicted. Including the Iran war and its consequences.
- adi_pradhan 17d agoNot sure what it really means but Mark Carney is turning out to be one of the the most consequential prime ministers of Canada. He has an exceptionally poor hand of cards to play but is maximizing any opportunity. Very creditable leadership - even for those who don't agree with everything he does. I do think this is a lesson for political parties all over the world. You can be pragmatic.
- dpc050505 17d agoCanada's geopolitical position might be a bit fucked but we're still a very rich country with highly educated and resilient people. An exceptionally poor hand would be trying to govern a place like Haiti.
- petilon 17d agoTrump is not emperor for life, fortunately. He'll be gone in a couple of years. With any luck the upcoming midterms will significantly limit his powers. America will recover from this dark period. Other countries have had dark periods too, like Germany, and recovered.
- squidbeak 17d agoThe trouble for its global partners, especially in the Western Alliance, is that even if the attitude in the White House does change in 2029, no-one will ever be able to trust a repeat isn't 4 years away. US dominance has depended on its reliability as a partner - and that's gone.
- petilon 17d agoTrust won't come back immediately, but if the next 2 to 3 Presidents are "normal" then trust will come back slowly.
- anon7725 16d agoI don’t think you get it - the realignment has started. Countries cannot put their economic and physical security in the hands of a few thousand mouthbreathers in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin every 4 years. Europe is rearming and talking about a continental nuclear shield. China is selling US Treasuries. Middle powers like Canada that do not wish to become a U.S. protectorate are looking hard at what is needed to secure their futures. A President Newsom, though a welcome change, does nothing to reverse these vectors now that they have been started. The times to stop this were Nov 5, 2024 and Nov 8, 2016.
- rsynnott 17d agoGermany got a whole new constitution which was fairly explicitly designed to prevent that from happening again. The trouble for the US is that it is now very clear that the US president can just act like a crazy dictator, and that the mechanisms which were supposed to prevent that simply don't function. Absent constitutional change (which the US system makes virtually impossible), well, sure, there might be sensible leadership in 2028, but Canada will still have to look to 2032.
- throwaway283737 17d agoThis is the same EU who once reduced the Canadian trade minister to (literal) tears, and made her denounce the (accurate) fact that, and I quote, "Europe is not capable of signing a trade deal". Notably, the EU has never ratified the Canada FTA and everyone's just sort of pretending it did for convenience's sake. Nice symbolism, but this is merely being used as leverage in Canada's negotiation with the US. "See, we have other options!" Worth adding that Europe is far more protectionist than the US, so this is economically farcical. Symbolism trumping reality. Sort of like when celebrities were saying they'd move from the US to Europe in the aftermath of the Dobbs ruling... only to find out abortion law is far, far more restrictive in almost all of Europe than California or New York. Meanwhile the EU itself is about two years away from being run by the AfD + Le Pen freak show.
- cmrdporcupine 17d agoIn some ways it's fitting though, the chaos and infighting of the EU mirrors the structure of our own confederation. Provinces in Canada have strong powers and much of the same back and forth trade and regional politico-economic bickering as what happens between EU member states. Much more so than US states. The vibe is familiar at least.
- AlexandrB 17d ago> This is the same EU who once reduced the Canadian trade minister to (literal) tears Wow. That's really pathetic. I'm ashamed as a Canadian. I don't want someone who can be reduced to tears by a negotiation negotiating on my behalf.
- llm_nerd 17d ago> This is the same EU who once reduced the Canadian trade minister to (literal) tears It actually was "near tears", and this was because one region of Belgium was holding up what seemed so close. Eh. It isn't about them tearing up or changing or anything, or a tyrannical rapist king having a tantrum about some stupid bullshit, it was a negotiator frustrated that everything seemed to be held up by one small agricultural region. I don't know what you think this demonstrates. > the EU has never ratified the Canada FTA and everyone's just sort of pretending it did for convenience's sake. Greater than 98% of the provisions of CETA are in place since the original ratification. Which is why everyone "sorts of pretends", because for all intents it is in force in every meaningful way. You either seem misinformed or deliberately misleading, but CETA has two phases. By far the most important, which the EU ratified fully. There is a very small component about an investor's court system that impinges on country-level domains exclusively, so it requires a separate ratification. But on the whole it is a minuscule part of the agreement, and is basically wholly unnecessary. > Worth adding that Europe is far more protectionist than the US, so this is economically farcical Ignoring the thing I just said, this is comical given literally everything over the past two years. Like, are you authoring your comment from a time loop or something, because in the current situation it is cartoonishly stupid. Oh wait, you're a freshly created troll account just to drop this sort of "wisdom". ROFL.
- AlexandrB 17d agoAs a Canadian, this feels like hopping on board a sinking ship. EU and Canada have both severely underperformed for the last 10 years. I hope encouraging more trade can help.
- john_strinlai 17d ago>As a Canadian, this feels like hopping on board a sinking ship. i have to think that many people would consider the current situation with the usa is already a sinking (sunk?) ship.
- InTheArena 17d agoImagine what the EU reaction would be if the United States offered to make bring in the UK or Poland as state(s). Geopolitical games like this are how real wars eventually start.
- LastTrain 17d agoDid you miss the part where the US president said he would annex Canada against their will?
- InTheArena 17d agono. I am pointing out that a hyperbole from the EU is likely to cause a problem after this dipshit has left the oval office.
- LeChuck 16d agoWe don't have to imagine. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g0zg974v1o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g0zg974v1o
- jtwaleson 17d agoAt one point, 20 years back, I was joking that The Netherlands should quit the EU and join the USA as the 51st state. Lot less appealing in the current political climate, but for technology it'd be great. My point was that the constitution of the US is based on ideas, and the country could be open to any territory, independent of location, whereas all of Europe's countries are based on more on historical artifacts. Funny that the opposite approach is now considered with Canada. I can see it though.
- fuoqi 17d ago>My point was that the constitution of the US is based on ideas, and the country could be open to any territory, independent of location It seems you do not know anything about Puerto Rico and its history of shameful US meddling.
- anon291 17d agoRight Europe famously has never meddled
- goobatrooba 17d agoWell "Europe" doesn't meddle in the Netherlands. The Netherlands are part of the EU and the Dutch government has to agree with every single important EU decision for it to be adopted. So when there's "meddling" it is about rules that the Dutch government has itself agreed should apply.
- anon291 17d agoWow that really flew over your head
- jtwaleson 16d agoI was young and naive
- meindnoch 17d agoGood! My dream is an alliance with Canada and Australia, a truce with China, the dismantling of Russia (Siberia goes to China), and the isolation of USA.
- bryanlarsen 17d agoChina has a reasonable claim to Outer Manchuria, which includes Vladivostok; the treaties giving it up were signed under duress. But that's a far cry from all of Siberia. Siberia has not been treated well by the Russian or Soviet empires, but many non-Han territories have also been treated poorly by Chinese Empire. Siberia is likely better off independent.
- GuestFAUniverse 17d agoI don't understand the articles insistence that it could take years for a new type of association. Norway is a prime example for a country that is exactly that, isn't it?
- YCisFlock 17d ago[dead]
- OroPla 17d agoNot sure if this is a good or a bad thing. See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49419237 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49419237
- hexagonsuns 17d ago[flagged]
- wat10000 17d agoYeah, I can’t imagine why they’d be OK with voluntarily joining an international organization, but not be OK with being conquered and annexed by military force.
- antoineMoPa 17d agoThat's such a simplification. Canada has a respectful relationship with EU whereas the leader of the neighbors to the south has repeatedly hinted at annexation of Canada as a 51th state. How can you negotiate trade deals respectfully with this neighbor?
- TiredOfLife 17d agoFor Canada to be independent and free you need to ask permission from your king first.
- hexagonsuns 17d agoApparently we’ve got to ask everyone and their mom at this point
- bryanlarsen 17d agoCanada gained the right to remove the king in 1982. It would require unanimous consent from Parliament and all 10 provinces.
- jhonof 17d agoConsent of the people can be different for different things? No way /s
- hexagonsuns 17d agoWhen did hn become like Reddit? Nobody engages in conversation anymore it’s just epic Marvel one liner quips
- YCisFlock 17d ago[dead]
- throwaway283737 17d ago[flagged]
- HarHarVeryFunny 17d ago> Never you mind that millions of Europeans live in America and that doesn't happen in reverse America may have been founded by Europeans, but nowadays most immigrants are from countries like Mexico, India and China. You won't find any European country in the top 10. There are about 5 million Americans living abroad, lead again by Mexico.
- throwaway283737 17d agoThere are millions of people who were born in Europe and currently live in the United States, mainly of working age. There are a comparatively much smaller number of Americans living in Europe, a significant portion of which are well-off retirees (well-off by European standards). This is a fairly typical migration pattern for two places at different levels of economic development. A larger group of economic migrants move to the richer region in search of a better life, while a much smaller group of retirees move to the poorer region in an effort to boost their spending power.
- BIGFOOT_EXISTS 17d agoYet again more Canada brainrot. Canada has poor inter-provincial trade, with some provinces having an easier time trading with other countries than other provinces. Maybe it's time we focus on ourselves? :think:
- bradthebeaverfa 17d agoThis will never happen. However. If it did I'd love to watch Canada get Europe's regressive policies forced on them.
- sajithdilshan 17d agoI also don’t think Canada would ever be a full EU member. That would be going against monroe doctrine
- tranceylc 17d agoSorry, why would you “love to watch” something being forced?
- martiuk 17d agoWill probably end poorly like the UK, rule takers without the benefits.
- FlockIsYC 17d ago[dead]
- Roark66 17d agoAs an European I hope this leads to some concrete outcomes and will not just be a couple of statements by both sides. Also it's a great test for the EU. If all the EU countries can still actually agree on anything so novel. If we couldn't all agree on obvious stuff like support for Ukraine (famously Hungary had issues). Even if things are very positive on the surface there are often small groups that get affected negatively. We can see this on the recent example of the EU-Mercosur agreement. It was supposed to to "unite a free market of 700mln people", but for example farmers in my country (Poland) protested it an I think they got a lot of concessions. (We have to remain food-self sufficient in case of war, so I'm not against their ideas per se). The deal is supposedly done, but I'm still not seeing bananas from South America in our supermarkets (don't laugh, this was one of the main points anti EU people raised back in 2005). Ideally I'd like to see free market eventually expanded to free movement of people between EU/Canada but I have no idea how difficult aligning the legal systems might be. As to contributions, it's not membership so things can maybe be worked out. As to the UK being able to get similar deal. I don't really get the idea to "punish the UK for exiting" they shot themselves in the foot sufficiently anyway (as well as us), but Canada has way more natural resources which may be a great benefit to our common market. So they have better "cards" to quote a certain Donald. For example the whole farce that is EUs green initiative could actually make sense if we had a place to procure resources from in a more ecologically sound way. As opposed to what we do with China, we basically killed 90% of local industry, but we still get finished goods from countries that burn huge amounts of coal and manufacture those things in ways that would be never allowed here. Of course that we E immensely expensive to set up, but we have 2 trillion $ in investment looking for a new home and there is a good argument to make this should be invested in a place that honours rule of law, democracy, human rights (inclusive of right to healthcare) and so on.
- lbrito 16d agoI don't know how it is in Europe, but in Canada we only get United Fruit Company bananas from Guatemala, which are disgusting (okay strong words, but they aren't great). Brazilian bananas are so much better they seem like a different fruit.
- MadrasTh0rn 17d agoChina is always looking to maintain trade routes to Europe. This would be their go-around of the Panama canal until the polar ice cap melts.
- cekanoni 17d agoI hope Canada you are smart not to come anywhere near EU clowns
- rich_sasha 17d agoSoon, Canada might overtake Finland in having the longest NATO border with a hostile country…
- awakeasleep 17d agoBut it will probably be a long time till Canada purposefully causes the death of a million civilians in the USA, like Finland did with Leningrad!
- rich_sasha 17d agoIt’s not a pretty competition, but I’m pretty sure Russia "wins" vs Finland in number of deliberate civilian deaths over any time period.
- hem777 17d ago1) it wasn’t millions (plural) 2) absolutely everyone would be better off if Leningrad was part of Finland
- guilhermesfc 17d agoAs a European, I am very happy to see this, especially given what Canada represents and the values (I believe) we broadly share!
- MrNoisegor 17d agoYeah no, run from this dumpster fire, the EU from inside is a disaster, an organization from the Germany for the German interest, and a buffer zone for the US.
- blacklimetea 17d ago[dead]
- moistly 17d ago[dead]
- snapplebobapple 17d agoMy country has fallen so far... dealing with the government and regulators in the usa, canada, and the eu. I can tell you the eu is pretty clearly bottom tier for competency, effectiveness and even justimplementation that makes sense. Usa is the best of the three surprisingly and canada is mid mostly because it is too lazy to suck as bad as the eu
- bigyabai 17d ago> dealing with the [...] regulators in the usa > Usa is the best of the three surprisingly As a US citizen, I'd rather our regulators copied Europe's consumer protections. American businesses do not respect privacy or free market economics, and it is destroying the tech sector.
- snapplebobapple 17d agoIts one of those things that seems good on paper and then when you experience it, you realize it is just a grift to keep extremely incompetent beaurocrats in bageuttes and lattes
- fleroviumna 17d ago[dead]
- dismalaf 17d agoLol there's no such thing as an EU associate member. The EU has to come up with and agree to what the term means. The same EU that still hasn't ratified CETA; 10 members still blocking it.
- amai 16d agoCanada should be careful. The last country that leaned towards the EU got invaded by its jealous neighbor.