"The relation between Canada and the US is under severe force – and it makes any commentators propose an improbable but not impossible solution. What if Canada joined the European Union?" wrote CBC public broadcaster John Last.
He recalled that in January this year, Stanley Pignal wrote in "The Economist", referring, among others, to president Donald Trump's repeated image of Canada as the "51st state" of the USA. At the time, Pignal felt that both Europe and Canada could participate in the "update of alliances". After his article, a number of affirmative comments appeared in the EU.
Trump reiterated Canada's word as "51st state" one more time on Sunday, writing on his actual Social social social social network that Canada without subsidies from the US cannot be "as a country capable of surviving". The US president claims that Canada has hundreds of billions of trade surpluses in economical relations in the US. However, if you subtract Canadian oil exports from trade in both countries, Canada has a $55 billion deficit. In addition, Canada sells its oil to its customers in the USA below planet prices, subsidizing in fact the USA.
W Canada is already discussing the thought of a greater rapprochement with the European Union, as confirmed by erstwhile deputy prime minister Alberta Thomas Lukaszuk on Sunday. He besides pointed out the function that Poland can play in bringing Canada closer to the EU through its current political and economical importance in the Union.
“Canadians feel betrayed”
"We can find any form of incomplete EU membership, possibly an association – first of all – of economical and human movement. After all, we already have CETA, and so the free trade agreement Canada-EU, we have visa-free travel with most EU countries. There are areas where Canada is well placed, specified as work on AI or military production – in these areas it would be very interesting to deepen cooperation with Poland as a associate of the EU. Justin Trudeau's fresh conversation with Donald Tuski during Trudeau's visit to Poland is simply a good start. Canada, in fact, thanks to U.S. decisions, will be able to appear from the shadows. Poland can take advantage of this by intensifying its diplomacy in Canada and expanding economical cooperation ", said Lukaszuk.
"Canadians feel betrayed due to the fact that there are no 2 countries in the planet that are more friendly than Canada and the US, so we don't know how to choice up what's going on. But after recognizing these emotions, there is large potential," he added.
"The Economist" referred to Canadians as "honorable Europeans", drawing attention to the "common values" that appear in the discourse of Canadian and European politicians. In addition, many Canadian political and legal institutions replicate European patterns and more than half of Canadians have European roots.
The CBC recalled that "any European country" can join the European Union, which undertakes to respect EU values and European government does not specify what a European country is.
Legal issues a bone of disagreement
Mr Lukasuk pointed out that the most hard issues could be legal issues in the search for a expression for cooperation between Canada and the EU, which is why it would be a good direction to grow economical cooperation, including in the field of natural materials and defence and technology.
The CBC quoted experts who spoke of small likelihood of Canada's full membership of the EU, but recalled that there is an thought of a "European neighbourhood" on the basis of which the EU cooperates beyond trade agreements, e.g. with Tunisia.
When the Prime Minister of Canada spoke to the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in mid-January this year, the press office of the Prime Minister of Canada wrote in a communication after talks about "close cooperation between Canada and the European Union", which aims to "promot economical safety between nations on both sides of the Atlantic."
