Ooh provocative.
There are many more private or subtle ways of showing Canada support, Iâm not sure they shouldnât have been employed..
I think the hint is military cooperation too.
If Canada gets assoxiate status I hope the UK does itself some good by cosying up for that too. Would add legitinacy to Canada support by EU and possibly hold off orange reaction if the UK is there alongside Canada.
That would fly in the face of everything the EU has always said about the four freedoms being indivisible.
You were right, Donny hasnât taken it well and is threatening tariffs all over again. Oh well.
Quite - you beat me to the same point. And they were very particular about that during Brexit negotiations.
It seems that âAssociate Memberâ is an idea dreamed up by von der Leyen - there isnât any such status officially, so it would mean whatever the EU decide it should mean.
Probably just a bit more science education and defence cooperation and maybe some mutually agreed tariff reductions?
Single Market membership I canât see happening.
That is why Canada would be associate ..in my view .. The other freedoms ..democracy, rule of law , sociology, trade would be present âŠ
I donât see any issues with freedom on movement once Canada builds a wall, a bloody big wall, between it and the failing Country below it 
1 Like
The four freedoms, with reference to the single market, are freedom of movement of goods, services, people and capital. The EU has long been insistent that these freedoms are indivisible for the single market.
I believe that the EU would be very, very reluctant to set a precedent for any country to be a member of the single market without the full set being in place.
When Romania joined ..free movement of people was curtailed ⊠Everything is negotiable ..
To a point, it was a temporary restriction.
But I agree - nothing really prevents the EU from doing SM âliteâ or âLe marchĂ© unique en Ă©tapesâ, or opening up routes to EEA membership without EU membership - it is just political will that is needed.
This is is why whenever anyone on here takes the âthatâs assuming the EU would want and accept the UK back as a memberâ line I have always taken the approach of âwhy wouldnât they?â. Of course there are many reasons they wouldnât, but the world is changing, and the tectonic plates of power are shifting, and anyone at the EU looking at that level, rather than at a national level with all the squabbles and difficulties there, should realise that the EU needs the UK just as the UK needs the EU, just as the EU needs Canada just as Canada needs the EU. The previous superpowers canât be relied on, and more may be actively dangerous to us, so partnership and togetherness is vital, however that ultimate relationship pans out. The short term pain of the divorce needs to be put aside for everyoneâs sake, and this Canada situation suggests that at least some of the big players at the EU do understand the macro situation.
6 Likes
I think the EU probably would, but they would equally be right to be cautions given the hot mess that is UK politics right now.
Sensible Brits probably would as well but as soon as anything like this were even mentioned (not even as a serious idea, just actually mentioned as a someday aspiration) Farage and crew would go into full meltdown mode.
1 Like
Trump has changed the balance of power by transforming the USA from an ally to an enemy. Hence the EU is now willing to consider all sorts of things previously unacceptable. Incidentally I still canât help wondering if there was some truth in Trump as a Putin asset as he seems to be carrying out Putinâs wet dream by attacking Iran creating a deficit in USA ammunition, reputation and high oil prices for Russian oil. As for Canada, EU bureaucracy destruction should be Von Leyenâs priority. A free trade agreement with Canada was negotiated but still hasnât been ratified 9 years later.
1 Like
The EU never parted on bad terms with the UK ..It was always the UK s hissy fit .Every possible accomodation was given by the EU to the UK..including those multiple extensions . What the EU is now wary about is that those hissy fitters have not gone away
2 Likes
An interesting discussion - but already bogged down by scaremongering about details that have not yet been raised.
I think the key issues here are very wide reaching. The EU needs to develop and change. Macron would love to be President of Europe - but that is not the concept behind the union, and von der Leyen is too wise to even try that route. Carney is the most respected leader in the west now; and a very constructive thinker. America cannot be trusted at present; and when deplorable Donald is dumped it will take them a decade to recover (but thatâs the wrong word, because they cannot go back to being what they were).
The need to extend the status of the EU without âfull membershipâ is evident in a number of places - not least this includes Britain. It would be interesting to know which of them [Carney or Mme Leyen] came up with the idea and proposed it.
The world needs a new functioning western superpower - and an extended, cooperating, massively jointly resourced European Union makes a load of sense.
Bring it on !
2 Likes
Sheâs a disaster, an egocentric, genocide facilitating disaster.
Apart from that I ageee 
Typical âNew Yorkerâ, Mark - they think that Paris is the centre of the EU . . . . . . which, of course, in some ways . . .
Or, maybe the Eiffel Towerâs a tad easier to recognise in a cartoon than the Brandenburg GateâŠ
1 Like