Sadly Article 49 TEU reserves EU membership to "European State[s]" 🇨🇦🇪🇺 eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/treaty/t... - ThreadSky

stevepeers.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Sadly Article 49 TEU reserves EU membership to "European State[s]" 🇨🇦🇪🇺
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/treaty/teu_2016/art_49/oj/eng

Comments

nash0rn.bsky.social•22 hours ago

How about a friendly annexation by Luxemburg as an overseas territory?

iverorstavik.bsky.social•23 hours ago

But does it define "European"? Values, culture, and institutions are the important criteria. Canada have all, and more than for example Hungary under Orban?

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•19 hours ago

First Nation People?

iverorstavik.bsky.social•13 hours ago

I hope my fellow Europeans would not see that as a ground for exclusion.

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•13 hours ago

Don't the First Nation People have a more important say?

iverorstavik.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Would be genuinely interesting to learn about the constitutional position of the First Nation people in such a context. The relationship between the constituent nations and polities, the states, and the union in the EU as of now is very complicated. And I think likely to change in the years to come.

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Imo, Trade Gravity is also a huge factor. Brexit proved beyond doubt both that it matters and that is is very hard to overcome.

Even if you massively increase the cost of doing business with your neighbour it's still more profitable than going elsewhere.

The US will find this out soon enough.

annabusybee.bsky.social•1 day ago

Canada shares a border with Denmark in the arctic. How convenient.

chrisfk.bsky.social•22 hours ago

And it shares a sea border with France between Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon.

legalminimum.bsky.social•21 hours ago

And unlike with Denmark, Canada has never had a border dispute over this one.

k3rwan.bsky.social•17 hours ago

Sure about that ?

profgaretht.bsky.social•19 hours ago

This is the kind of knowledge that I come here for 👍

callymeg.bsky.social•1 hour ago

The Greenlanders say it's theirs rather than Denmark's, as they're an autonomous region.

mrtrellis.bsky.social•13 hours ago

On which point it's worth noting that sooner or later Trump will notice the existence of those islands and start threatening France too.

And then he'll notice that Bermuda is off the coast of North Carolina and it will be Britain's turn.

arialadam.bsky.social•3 hours ago

The Bermudians will make short work of him. Or work shorts for him.

pdocignsvignduvkfn.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Wrong. Canada shares a border with Denmark. So yes, 100% we could join the EU.

chrisgallon.bsky.social•20 hours ago

It would take until the heat death of the universe to transition from North American standards to EU ones. Think of the endless meetings....

neilpollyticks.bsky.social•23 hours ago

But some of them speak French 😁

jodami.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Well that’s another reason not to let them in.

simonpease.bsky.social•1 day ago

Don’t spoil the fun.

stephenswan.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Well, after all Australia 🇦🇺 is in the Eurovision Song Contest so it’s only fair that Canada 🇨🇦 goes into the EU (it would only require a quick treaty change…)

markdowling.bsky.social•21 hours ago

If Canada can acquire a small European land foothold somewhere does that count, as Türkiye clearly thinks it does?

Perhaps Gibraltar would like to become Canadian?

deanmorrison.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Well Guyana, Reunion, Guadaloupe, the French Antarctic and Polynesian islands are all in the EU
More to the point St Pierre & Michelon are islands 10 miles off the coast of Canada & in the EU. The official currency is the Euro but they also accept Canadian Dollars. 😉

gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Falklands were in the EU single market before brexit.

70% of GDP was from fish exports to the EU.

Brexit banjaxed that.

drcj.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Guyana? 🤔

Maybe French Guiana?

deanmorrison.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Whoops!! 😂

drcj.bsky.social•12 hours ago

😆

Although it is especially irksome that somewhere so very far away has all of the benefits that we lost!

francesconicoli.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Europeanness is a cultural fact and a state of mind 🙃

fatbadger442.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Yes, hence Cyprus's EU membership.

francesconicoli.bsky.social•12 hours ago

@benbawan.bsky.social

peterhense.bsky.social•22 hours ago

European is a fuzzy concept.

jamescalbraith.co.uk•23 hours ago

How about starting with Nordic Council

ralphjanik.com•19 hours ago

“The sole material condition laid down by Article O of the TEU is that the applicant must be a 'European State'. There is no unequivocal interpretation of that criterion. It can be read equally well in geographical, cultural or political terms.”

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/briefings/23a2_en.htm

felixegger.bsky.social•3 hours ago

As for it being geographical, well Cyprus already is an example of an EU country that is not in Europe. So if they can be East East Europe, Canada can be West West Europe ;)

spanglish51.bsky.social•1 hour ago

I’m sure they can make an exception like the Eurovision committee found a space for Australia 😜

genialjim.bsky.social•1 day ago

But France isn’t a European state it’s a global state with metropolitan departments n South America, the Indian Ocean and Pacific 🇫🇷

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Because it didn't decolonise? That isn't a great argument.

souptomatosoup.uk•22 hours ago

So, its a bit...out there, but as the King of the UK, which is in europe, is the King of Canada...Canada could be considered a European state by virtue of its head of state being European

I know, utter nonsense...but if they wanted find an excuse...

hodmanjohn.bsky.social•1 day ago

Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth. It's all a matter of interpretation and seizing the moment. Canada will be more than welcome.

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•19 hours ago

You know that the UK isn't a member any more? I hope that you didn't miss that because it had been in the news from time to time.

hodmanjohn.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Not sure what you are referring to. But the UK is very much a member of the commonwealth. Please check your news sources again.

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•13 hours ago

Which doesn't give automatic accession to the EU.

hodmanjohn.bsky.social•11 hours ago

The rules are very much open to interpretation on this point. Look at it this way, given that the EU is also in Trump's firing line for tariffs, it would certainly be of benefit to the EU to welcome Canada into the fold. Both commercially and politically.

samanthasearrings.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Trade Gravity means that the commercial benefit is very limited.

Militarily both sides of the Atlantic could be engaged in their own struggle.

vox-dei.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Accession of a new member state requires the consent of all the existing states anyway. If they were all happy to have Canada on board then I imagine a minor change to Article 49 would be easy to get done.

guywigmore.bsky.social•1 day ago

Give them Runnymede.

stevepeers.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's not usable for hockey

alexjw.bsky.social•22 hours ago

If we gave them Gibraltar would that count?

essaywells.bsky.social•21 hours ago

And any country which joins the EU would by definition be a European State and therefore eligible :)

stephenswan.bsky.social•22 hours ago

True, of course, but the sentiment is good. As Simon @simonpease.bsky.social says we really shouldn’t spoil the fun.

I wonder if there are any other non-European countries that would like to join the EU rather than become a state of the US…

simonpease.bsky.social•22 hours ago

“Two speed Europe” ?

stephenswan.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Well Turkiye has had EEC/EU candidate status for 37 years and most of the country is in Asia, not Europe…

simonpease.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I’m sure a form of Associate status could be invented. And as Helene Von Bismarck has pointed out it would have the benefit of making HM Head of State of a member State once more.

stephenswan.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I was partly joking. I’m sure that if there’s the political will some sort of Associate status (essentially single market & customs union) membership could be devised. That said the Canada would have to agree to freedom of movement of persons to protect the EU’s SM’s integrity.

simonpease.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Anything is possible, even the very unlikely.

quilombo.bsky.social•1 day ago

Let's start with 🇫🇷 Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

ianford.bsky.social•1 day ago

if they're serious they should join Eurovision first.

kbredbeck.bsky.social•1 day ago

Why not both simultaneously?

douwekorff.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Yes - while Israel is kicked out!

pickle1805.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Doesn’t define “European”, which as we all* subconsciously recognise is in fact a state of mind.

*also not defined

pickle1805.bsky.social•9 hours ago

French Guiana is European enough for the ECJ to have oversight of its adherence to the Treaty

nikoecon.bsky.social•1 day ago

erikelmgren.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Western European Ocean

pieist.xenoplasm.com•1 day ago

Mapquest really should expand its marvellous "name your own gulf" page (here's my example) to include other bodies of water.

https://gulfof.mapquest.com/?name=Quetzalc%C5%8D%C4%81tl

sab588.bsky.social•1 hour ago

Am sure a new type of membership can be designed

lazylittlepanda.bsky.social•22 hours ago

They already have a EU border, so...

huettemann.eu•19 hours ago

Cyprus is an Asian Island... So if Canada calls herself European... =it would be a European state, at least with a European king... 😎 #Justsaying 😉 #CYinEU

jimkear.bsky.social•1 day ago

Canada had a border with an EU member…. Looks askance at Greenland

nfgmart.bsky.social•23 hours ago

And France (St Pierre et Miquelon)

realcaptainhaddock.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Sea border with France. Land border with Denmark. And if the U.K. can be a Pacific state…

timoconnorbl.bsky.social•21 hours ago

The EU has a land border with Venezuela, after all.

dinnersready.bsky.social•23 hours ago

So, just redefine Europe! (This Trump thing is catching)

mehero.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Greenland could vote to join the EU, couldn't it?
Then sell itself to Canada?

jameselder.bsky.social•1 day ago

I would assume that the European Broadcasting Union probably originally had a rule that only nations in the European Broadcasting Area or Council of Europe could join the Eurovision Song Contest, and yet…

mrtrellis.bsky.social•13 hours ago

That said, bits of Metropolitan France are in South America and the Indian Ocean and of course Cyprus is in Asia.

ians.chat•20 hours ago

Heck, Canada isn't even in the Eurovision Song Contest yet. Loooong way to go.

lerrup.bsky.social•21 hours ago

If Australia can be in Eurovision, Canada can be in the EU.

That's logic, surely

stgeorge.bsky.social•1 day ago

While Canada is geographically in North America, its historical, legal, political, and cultural DNA is unmistakably European. Heck, its head of state is located in Europe!

kathrinluddecke.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I can see where you're coming from but there are the first peoples.

stgeorge.bsky.social•21 hours ago

A situation of coexistence familiar to many Europeans.

douwekorff.bsky.social•23 hours ago

EEA?

stevepeers.bsky.social•23 hours ago

The first E tho

douwekorff.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Ah … But where there’s a will there is a (legal) way, surely?

bluetickatbluesky.bsky.social•23 hours ago

What defines a ‘European State’?

stevepeers.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Being in Europe

fatbadger442.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Except in the case of Cyprus.

pieist.xenoplasm.com•1 day ago

Well, it was contiguous with Europe a mere 100-150m years ago. Just have to take the long view.

pozhaslefttwitter.bsky.social•17 hours ago

Understood. Hmm - is there a strict definition of 'European' in there..?

timguvnor.bsky.social•1 day ago

They speak French though?

psythian.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I've read the first 10 articles in the Treaty but see no definition of Europe/European. Canada and Denmark share a land border on Hans Island, which is between Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island, in the Arctic. Plus, St Pierre et Miquelon is a French territory just off the Canadian east coast.

mrtrellis.bsky.social•13 hours ago

And besides which Cyprus is in Asia so the point has already been stretched once.

fatbadger442.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Of course, the definition of "European state" is fluid. Cyprus is geographically Asia. It is culturally European, because Greece insists it is. But its not actually European.

adrianbernard.bsky.social•9 hours ago

If it is allowed to call the Gulf of Mexico, the GOA can not Europe declare that along with Greenland, Canada is also part of Europe ?

Pretty sure the Donald has no idea about continents, established norms or history so he wouldn't even sue 🤔

andynash.bsky.social•10 hours ago

This is surely.correct unfortunately, as while Cyprus was ambiguous geographically, and the definition of European is essentially a political one, Morocco was rejected on this basis.

Time to look at amending Article 49 perhaps?

lillyh.bsky.social•1 day ago

Canada is more European than Malta or Turkey!

timguvnor.bsky.social•1 day ago

Erm…

lillyh.bsky.social•1 day ago

It was founded (well, colonised) by France and England, and is full of people of ethnically European background. The head of state is the English king, and while England is not currently in the EU, it hopefully will be again soon.