Half-joking comments about Canada joining the bloc have become common as Ottawa adapts to its fraying relationship with the United States.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has floated the idea that Canada could one day join the European Union, using the transatlantic ally as a striking example of the bloc’s global appeal.
Speaking at the Europe 2026 conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, Barrot argued that the EU is increasingly attracting partners far beyond its borders as geopolitical tensions soar.
Barrot’s Canada remark was not presented as a concrete policy proposal, but rather as part of a broader argument that the EU is emerging as a “third superpower” capable of balancing the rivalry between the United States and China.
Yes they’ve been trying. I believe Denmark was the hold out. Which is weird stance considering Greenland’s situation. And the trade route like right there. Honestly don’t really understand why all of EU aren’t jumping on this as hard as the US is.
I can’t find anything about Denmark not wanting Canada in the EU
however, according to the treaty. A country needs to actually be european to apply for membership according to the text:
If you consult the full text of the treaty, what you’ll notice is that “European state” is not defined anywhere in the treaty. In fact, that quote you posted is literally the only instance of the term in the 55 consolidated articles. Even the “Copenhagen Criteria” which lay out the explicit requirements for membership just gesture back at article 49 again. It’s basically the only use of that term anywhere in the written law on the subject, at least that I can find.
Outside of the text of the treaty, there aren’t really any commonly accepted legal definitions of a “European state.” Most legal definitions that do exist define it a member of the EU, which is obviously completely circular if you try to use that as a definition of entry criteria; “You’re allowed in if you’re already in.” Geographic definitions don’t work because they’ve always been fuzzy. Is Turkey part of Europe or part of “The Middle East”? Is the “The Middle East” part of Europe, Africa, Asia…? Russia is either a European country or an Asian country depending on what day of the week it is. Parts of the EU extend onto the African continent. Cyprus is an EU member and they’re off the coast of Syria. And given that Canada shares both land and sea borders with EU states (which is actually more than some other EU members can claim), they’ve got all the leeway in the world to decide we qualify if they want to. It basically just comes down to “You’re European if we say you are.”