As United States President Donald Trump continues to threaten Canada’s financial and political sovereignty, some observers have floated the concept of Canada turning into a member of the European Union.
Since there isn’t a possible pathway to EU membership within the brief time period, present efforts rightly deal with strengthening Canada’s current commerce relationships, most notably by means of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
However one thing else is commonly missed: Canada also needs to study from the EU how to deal with the monumental challenges forward. Europe shouldn’t be solely much less weak than Canada as a result of its geographic place and financial energy, it’s additionally extra resilient.
Three objectives
In contrast to “Staff Canada,” “Europe United” has already crafted a multi-pronged coverage framework to come across the dangers arising from a basically altering geopolitical setting over the long run. The EU additionally has a extra strong institutional framework for intergovernmental co-operation.
(AP Photograph/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Below the management of President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Fee has launched a cascade of comparatively coherent insurance policies aimed toward facilitating three broad objectives: decarbonization, financial sovereignty and nationwide safety.
Key pillars of this new coverage framework are the European Green Deal of 2019, the European Industrial Strategy of 2020, the European Economic Security Strategy of 2023 and the 2024 European Defence Industrial Strategy.
These coverage initiatives have been repeatedly up to date, fine-tuned and aligned with one another. They’ve created an umbrella that allows the EU and its member states to concurrently promote the inexperienced transition, strengthen the inner market and home industries in addition to scale back financial and safety dangers.
The geopolitical and industrial changes within the EU resemble what used to exist in Canada as properly: national policies — the aware, nation-building initiatives of successive federal governments.
However Canada has misplaced the ability to plan strategically for the long term and now responds to each disaster in a reactive, punctuated method. In doing so, Canadian officers deal with signs with out tackling root causes.
EU structure
The institutional structure of the EU additionally furnishes governments with extra capability to collaborate. In all federal methods, most insurance policies are largely shared, which is why intergovernmental co-ordination is essential to buttress and consolidate such improvements.
Learn extra:
Canada-U.S. history provides lessons on how Canada can deal with a hostile Donald Trump
Notably, the Council of the European Union performs a key function for co-ordinating and negotiating insurance policies, along with its perform as the principle decision-making physique (along with the European Parliament).
It’s composed of ministers of the EU member states. Accordingly, it really works in numerous configurations, relying on the portfolio. The pinnacle of governments themselves meet usually by means of a separate establishment, the European Council.
In Canada, in contrast, federal intergovernmental establishments are fragile or don’t even exist, despite the fact that they’re comparatively robust on the municipal stage.
Municipalities co-ordinate by means of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which was established in 1901. However it was not till 2004 that provinces and territories established the Council of the Federation. This physique, nonetheless, has remained weak, with little or no administrative help.
What’s much more placing is that there isn’t a formalized, institutionalized framework in any respect on the federal stage. The First Ministers’ Convention conferences are held on the discretion of the prime minister. Of their communique following a Council of the Federation assembly in November 2023, premiers complained that “the prime minister has not convened a full in-person First Ministers’ Meeting since December 2018 despite repeated requests from premiers.”
Widespread tariffs towards Canada could also be on maintain till March, however there isn’t a manner again. As Canadians expertise their very personal “Zeitenwende” — the tip of an period — within the wake of Trump’s want to soak up Canada into the U.S., the nation’s leaders ought to draw two classes from the EU.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
All-encompassing method wanted
On the coverage stage, Canada does want a brand new “nationwide coverage,” as I have argued previously.
Greater than 40 years in the past, the Macdonald Commission paved the way in which for a serious transformative shift in Canadian policy-making, together with free commerce with the U.S. However because the world monetary disaster of 2007-2008, it has turn out to be more and more clear that this mannequin of socioeconomic improvement is outdated.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/UPC/Chris Schwarz
But the mannequin has by no means been changed. In contrast to the EU, Canadians have comforted themselves with patchwork insurance policies as a substitute of crafting a brand new, all-encompassing method.
The challenges the EU and Canada face are related, however Canada wants to seek out its personal response. Forging a brand new mannequin would require mobilizing and aligning key sectors like commerce, infrastructure and industrial policy in a coherent method.
On the institutional stage, Canada should — lastly — institutionalize Team Canada. It’s a constructive improvement that First Ministers’ Convention conferences have resumed, however an advert hoc method to intergovernmental collaboration is now not adequate.
Staff Canada may fit underneath stress when going through a short-term menace. With out a stronger institutional basis, nonetheless, Canada gained’t be capable to consolidate a brand new nationwide coverage over the long run.
The EU has accomplished a remarkable resurgence, regardless of all remaining difficulties. Somewhat than chasing the concept of becoming a member of the EU, Canada ought to use the European instance as a street map for enhancing its coverage and governance capacities.
