I've found a perfect new member for the EU. If only it were in Europe

[muriel_volestrangler]

Article, and blog comments, from The Guardian in the UK. Do any of you feel you have a lot of values in common with Europe? If it weren't for NAFTA, do you think you'd contemplate hooking up with the EU in some form?

In fact, why doesn't the European Union invite Canada to join at once? In most respects it would be a much easier fit than Ukraine, let alone Turkey. It effortlessly meets the EU's so-called Copenhagen criteria for membership, including democratic government, the rule of law, a well-regulated market economy and respect for minority rights (Canada's a world-leader on that). Canada is rich, so would be a much-needed net contributor to the European budget at a time when the EU has been taking in lots of poorer states. One of Europe's besetting weaknesses is disagreement between the British and the French, but on this the two historic rivals would instantly agree. English-speaking Canada would strengthen the Anglophone group in the EU, Quebec the Francophone.

Take the list of things that many Europeans consider to be most characteristic of us - by contrast with the United States. We Europeans believe that the free market should be tamed by values of social justice, solidarity and inclusiveness, realised through a strong welfare state. We don't have capital punishment. We believe that military force should only be used as a last resort and with the sanction of international law. We support international organisations. We love multilateralism and abhor unilateralism. We tend to think that men and women should be able to live more or less as they please with whomever they please, irrespective of gender and sexual orientation. We pride ourselves on our diversity. Check, check, check. Welcome to Canada.

Look a little closer at the opinion surveys, and there are a few distinguishing marks. Canadians still tend to place a little more store by self-reliance and the woodsman frontier spirit than most Europeans. Canadians tend to be a bit more religious than most Europeans - though not more than the Poles or Ukrainians. Most important, their attitude to immigration and ethnic minorities is more positive than that of most Europeans. But these differences in attitudes could easily be accommodated within the wide spectrum of today's EU, while a Canadian-style embrace of immigration and ethnic minorities would do Europe a power of good.

OK, I know it's not going to happen. After saying yes to Turkey, the EU is having difficulty finding clear and consistent grounds for saying no to other, still more remote candidates - but being in the general vicinity of Europe does seem to be a continuing requirement. Now I guess an agile Canadian Inuk could traverse the melting ice floes to Greenland, which actually belonged to the EU for 12 years and now has a special treaty relationship with it. From there it's a relatively short boat trip to Iceland, which is generally considered to be a European country.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1808159,00.html

[Swede]

1. Hmmm.

I've never actually thought of this before. You never know.

[Bassic]

2. I think the idea has some appeal.

I think it might be a good move, were it feasible.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. I used this idea in a novel a while ago

I had Canada join the EU, which then changed it's name to the Northern Union. The currency became the Neuro.

Well, it amused me, anyway. It was a minor subplot.

Details here.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Oh, I love the synopsis

the little chimp, suitably dressed in a little cowboy outfit and trained to make humanlike gestures and equipped with a fake birth certificate and a fake academic and military history

:rofl:

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Thanks

I had a lot of fun writing that novel.