European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union is opening the door for Canada to become the first associate member, a status that does not exist under the bloc’s treaties.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union is opening the door for Canada to become the first associate member, a status that does not exist under the bloc’s treaties.
Making this kind of special status for Canada, a country that is very obviously not in Europe and is basically on the opposite side of the planet and has zero geographic connection to Europe, is transparently about Canada being a white settler colony.
Why not Egypt? We know why.
The mental gymnastics are almost impressive
They will never invite a non-white majority country to have the same associate status, except maybe Japan, since they’d be grandfathered in by Germany.
In 2026 the answer is very clearly “because Egypt is a military dictatorship”.
Associate membership status would have been amazing as a democracy-stabilizing force in a few Arab Spring democracies during the 2010s. The example I’m mostly thinking of is 2011-2019 Tunisia, which actually had a chance at becoming a real democracy.
Precedent: In 1974, the perspective for EU membership was a major stabilizing factor for the nascent Greek democracy, and locking it in 1981 was basically the masterstroke for the 3rd Greek Republic to stay democratic. Those 7 years were crucial. Similar stories for Portugal and Spain, after their own dictatorships.
A similar window for the democracies of Tunisia and Egypt came and went and the EU failed miserably at throwing them a lifeline. But one can still dream. A post-apartheid Palestine/Israel for example might be a fantastic candidate for something like this, especially if Lebanon and Turkey join the process at the same time.
We have to still beat back the latest wave of fascism, and we shouldn’t sell the bearskin before hunting down the bear. But one can dream.