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.
…also the "striking appeal’ of Canada
nice to be the belle of the ball
new europe map drop
ftfy
bro erased england but kept russia and belarus 💀
I… didn’t really pay attention to that part to be honest.
Joining the EU might be suboptimal (and unrealistic), but some kind of trade agreement would be awesome.
And defence agreement
Canada does have a land border with Denmark with Hans Island, so it is joined to Europe.
Would love the freedom of movement but we’d need to keep the loonie.
This would be one of the greatest decisions Canada and the EU make.
Here’s hoping they go through with it and really give the US a run for their money!
Otherwise known as please Canada bring your production capacity to Europe since we’re both getting divorced from the US
Increasing trade between the EU and Canada just makes perfect sense, with or without full membership. They bring the raw resources, we bring the equipment to extract those raw resources. It’s a pretty sweet deal for both parties.
It absolutely is, If I was Ursula I’d have a second home in Ottawa.
I’m not Ursula buy I’d like a second home in British Columbia.
I’m just looking to afford a first home.
Decathlon has some nice tents
I’m with you on that
It would be increadibly funny to make the US/CA border full of EU flags.
Trump would go even more insane.
Let’s all wear berets and carry baguettes and laugh like this: “hwar, hwar, hwar”.
Hon-hon-hon!
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:
“Any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply to become a member of the Union.”
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.”
Uh…messy divorce, then Canada in 15 years: fuck you Brussels, you’re not my real dad!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-eu-partnership-deepening-ties-1.7570680
Carney already said no pretty clearly, so I’m not sure why this guy “floats the idea” again.
Carney is just the current PM. Let’s see what the public thinks and if any party will put this in their program.
Canada has become a two party system, so the choice is PM Carney or Governor Poilievre.
You don’t go in (or out) of the Union in a whim. It takes years. So Carney won’t be the PM if this happens.
