this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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Yes, Canada has a legal path to E.U. membership – but would it want this?

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[–] thehowlingnorth@lemmy.ca 44 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I'm in. I'll miss the Loonie, but Europe's looking pretty good these days.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We can still call the coins loonies and toonies, why not?

[–] Rogue@feddit.uk 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Pretty sure you get to choose the illustrations on Euros issued in your country so you can continue the theme. Then as it gets mixed in with currency elsewhere the terminology might catch on in continental Europe

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[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Using the euro is optional! Many countries kept their own currency.

[–] prodigalsorcerer@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Are there any non-founding-member countries that kept their own currency?

I believe it's mandatory for all new members.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 month ago

Yes, it is. You can delay it indefinitely, though, and Romania is still on the leu. Other members have blocked them from making the switch, even.

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Same. I wouldn't mind switching to the Euro, but our coins are really cool and nostalgic for me. It would be nice if there were a way to keep them.

[–] shrugs@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (3 children)

UK did exactly that. They never swapped their pound with euro. I'm all for it!

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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I mean, you get to put whatever on the reverse of the coins.

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well that's cool, then. I don't know anything about EU process or regulations.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The denominations are fixed: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, 1 and 2 for coins, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 for bills (although I've read the 200 and 500 had ceased production).

Every country can mint coins with bespoke faces, even limites editions, for commemorations and special events. Spain uses the Sagrada Familia for their lower denomination coins and the king's image for higher, Greece reproduced an ancient dracma in their 1€ coin, Italy as used the Vitruvian Man, France has the Republic in their coins, etc. Enough room for each country to express their roots and values.

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

That's interesting, thank you. I have another question, more for curiosity than anything else: Canada got rid of its 0.01 coin – if we became part of the EU, would we have to bring that back?

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The real thing I'd dread is that Euros are heavy as fuck. You have too much change in like half or less the time it takes here.

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's true, it seems like the loonie is 6.27g and the 1 Euro coin is 7.5g.

That's an increase of about 19.6% so that would kind of suck. The 2 Euro coin is heavier than the toonie by an even larger margin. Not to mention that we would also have to get rid of quarters and introduce 2 more coins: 0.20 and 0.02.

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[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Assuming Canada would switch to the Euro, yes. You're referring to Canada also doing something to "block" the scummy x.99 prices, hence eliminating the 0,01 coin, right?

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No, we got rid of the $0.01 (called a cent) because it was costing too much money to mint. I think it cost $0.03 to make $0.01, so we just stopped making them in 2013.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I can't really recall the exact costs but I know every single coin we mint is more expensive than the value it carries.

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 3 points 1 month ago (5 children)

I think most of our coins (especially the larger loonie and toonie) cost less to mint than their face value, but I'm not sure of the nickel or the dime. When we were moving to get rid of the penny/cent it was a really big deal, but it hasn't really changed much in our daily lives since prices (the total on the final bill, not display prices) are now rounded to the nearest 0.05.

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[–] logi@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And a fun thing to do is to pick through your coins in your pocket and see the designs and where they're from. I currently live in Italy and we have a lot of Italian designs, of course, but also from all over. I hope one of yours will just have a maple leaf on it.

I'm hoping that, if this all does come to pass, we can put a loon on our 1 Euro coin and a polar bear on the 2 Euro coin. That's currently our tradition and it would be nice to continue it. Of course, a maple leaf is already on all of our coins so it stands to reason that that would also continue.

All that to say: if we were to join, you would more than likely get your wish. :3

[–] AlolanVulpix@lemmy.ca 25 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Norweigians are just being weird because of their oil riches. They fear (perhaps legitimately) that we'll tax those off of them.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 20 points 1 month ago (3 children)

The EU requires unanimity among its existing members in order to add a new member. It's not impossible, but getting Orban to agree to it is, I think, a much bigger stumbling block than the article implies. Any "concessions" Orban demands to accept Canada would themselves have to be unanimously agreed to by existing members.

[–] NewDay@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago

Orban has to vote for Canada. Why? His regime will be over in 14 days if he does not get the EU money. Orban's biggest rival is in first place according to the latest polls. If he wants to be re-elected, he cannot sabotage EU policy.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Can the EU expel member states?

[–] abff08f4813c@j4vcdedmiokf56h3ho4t62mlku.srv.us 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

My understanding is no - but a long term suspension might be better anyways, since the effect seems to be that the member state is still forced to comply with EU rules without getting any of the benefits like voting.

That being said, I wonder if they could suspend Hungary, then have the rest vote and approve an amendment to allow expulsion - which would pass unamiously since Hungary can't vote against it as it's suspended, and then they expel Hungary under the new amendment...?

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 month ago

Thanks so much. Food for thought. Latent consequences to be searched out and explored.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago

It may not be an issue anymore (I don't recall hearing about it in a while, but I'm not sure how long), but it used to be the case that there were two countries that were often regarded as EU troublemakers, and by working together, even though they didn't agree much of the time, they could veto any attempts to undermine each other. I think the other troublemaker was Poland, and I think it may have been before their last election, but that's a lot of unsurity.

Suspension, fwiw, requires unanimity apart from the country in question, so one single dissenter can prevent it.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

The EU requires unanimity among its existing members

Wow, that's a rule that doesn't scale well. Especially since apparently expelling a country requires unanimity too.

[–] Greg@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I want all of the consumer protections EU citizens get like being able to side load apps on iPhones etc.

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

Some privacy laws would be nice, eh?

[–] ninthant@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 month ago

At the very least, joining with their economic standards is a path we should move towards.

[–] shittydwarf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago

Absolutely. This would be such a boon to both Canada and the EU

[–] finalaccountforreal@lemm.ee 9 points 1 month ago

Yeah let's do it

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

Sure thing! I hope they drag their old masters in the UK along with them when they arrive. This will stretch the meaning of "Europe" a tad though.

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[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't know if full membership is reasonable. Full membership would mean complying with all EU standards, those standards include electrical standards, and Canadian and European electrical standards are completely different. They run on 240V at 50Hz and Canada runs on 120V at 60Hz.

But, a closer alignment would be a great idea. Make it easier for workers to move between the EU and Canada. Harmonize some laws (for example, bring EU privacy and data protection laws to Canada). Require Canada to have more efficient vehicles and appliances.

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[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago
[–] LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago

I don't think this is currently possible under the current treaties of the EU. At the very least, there is contention about whether it would be possible. It's also not really an overnight kind of situation. At the very least, closer ties with the EU are definitely good for the country.

[–] Kinperor@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'm not in favor of this.

We don't need more super-national institution telling us what to do. I'm on board for good relations and for taking ideas from them, but we need to stop giving power to distant institutions that aren't truly invested in our success.

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