Donald Trump’s extraordinary threats have angered Canadians and Europeans, and the idea of a new kind of transatlantic alliance is gaining traction

Joachim Streit has never stepped foot in Canada. But that hasn’t stopped the German politician from launching a tenacious, one-man campaign that he readily describes as “aspirational”: to have the North American country join the EU.

“We have to strengthen the European Union,” said Streit, who last year was elected as a member of the European parliament. “And I think Canada – as its prime minister says – is the most European country outside of Europe.”

While he admitted that the possibility of Canada as a full member of the EU “may be aspirational for now”, he wondered if it was an idea whose time had come.

“Canada would be a strong member,” he said. “If Canada would be a member of the EU, it would rank 4th in terms of GDP. It’s part of Nato. And 58% of (working-age) Canadians have college degrees.”

  • teppaEnglish
    3•4 days ago

    No thanks, the Euro area has enough problems itself. Hence their desire to rush in a CBDC, and to limit free speech.

    This report outlines the economic fantasy land of Europe the best.

    https://icecap.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022.02-IceCap-Global-Outlook.pdf

    “To demonstrate our skepticism towards the Europeans’ ability to achieve escape
    velocity and forever leave behind their zombie banking system, unmarketable
    debt and complete dependence on suppressing price discovery - consider the
    following policy reactions orchestrated by the European Central Bank (ECB) since
    the 2008-09 crisis:
    • European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)
    • European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM)
    • European Stability Mechanism (ESM)
    • Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT)
    • Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO)
    • Long Term Refinancing Operation II (LTRO)
    • Long Term Refinancing Operation III (LTRO)
    • Tripartite Committee consisting of ECB, IMF, EC agreement (TROIKA)
    • Forced austerity and bailouts of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain
    • Activation of FED USD Swap Lines
    • Asset Purchase Program (APP)
    • Corporate sector purchase programme (CSPP)
    • Public sector purchase programme (PSPP)
    • Asset-backed securities purchase programme (ABSPP)
    • Covered Bond Purchase Programme (CBPP)
    • Covered Bond Purchase Programme II (CBPP)
    • Covered Bond Purchase Programme III (CBPP)
    • Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP)
    • Quantitative Easing (QE)
    • Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP)
    • Negative Interest Rate Policy (NIRP)
    Recal”

    • @Canuck@sh.itjust.works
      1•3 days ago

      Yea I would not want to give up monetary sovereignty to them either, it will not work long term, and the needed bailouts are just a symptom of the larger issues