cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/44418560

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.

  • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    Sure does feel weird to think about a country not on the European continent becoming part of the European Union. Also, loosing the looney and the toonie from Canada’s currency would be a global tragedy.

    • Logi@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Canada can poot anything they want on the backside of the Euro coins they mint. It’s fun to sort through your change and see where the coins came from. Might see a maple leaf one day?

      • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        That’s an interesting detail I didn’t know. With this new knowledge I choose to live in the timeline where Canada puts a loonie on the back of the euro coin haha.

      • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Call me a rube but I’m more of a mainland enthusiast myself. Don’t pay much mind to uninhabited islands that are closer in size to Vatican City than Tuvalu.

      • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Interesting fact, though capital city to capital city, Canada is an order of magnitude further from France than it is to England.

        Also,

        ^might be more beneficial to copy paste text than to upload screenshots of said text so the size and formatting can jive with whatever device or client a person is using to read the comment^

        cheers!

        • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          8 hours ago

          Just didn’t want to fuck around with formatting into block quotes lol, sometimes the laziness gets me

    • seanom@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      I think it is funny that France’s longest land border is shared with Brazil.

    • teyrnon@sh.itjust.works
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      15 hours ago

      A lot of countries in the European Union keep their old currencies. It is not mandatory.

      But it would insulate Canada from the United States manipulating it. They absolutely should take on the euro.

      • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        I’m no expert but given the trade between the two nations, I don’t think a currency change would do a whole lot to provide insulation from economic bullying the United States is capable of.

        Maybe Canada could build a moat haha.

        • teyrnon@sh.itjust.works
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          14 hours ago

          Oh for sure, I just meant the euro would insulate them from future plays on their currency, led by the administration and their parasitical business buddies, in the future when elections are firmly fixed, borrowing is getting maxed out, and they rig the numbers and news to prop up the failing economy.

    • adb@lemmy.ml
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      19 hours ago

      Countries can join the EU without switching to the euro.

      • WFH@lemmy.zip
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        16 hours ago

        They are legally bound to eventually adopt the euro. But they can deliberately fail to meet the convergence criteria, like Sweden does.

      • Klear@quokk.au
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        18 hours ago

        They have to commit to taking steps towards adoption and then they don’t actually have to do anything.