Let states choose their federal governments

“Canada should join the EU.”

That was the suggestion made by former German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel when Donald Trump took office in 2025. The idea was quickly backed by former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. A poll later found nearly 60% of Canadians open to it.

Canada sends 75% of its exports to the US and with the US slapping tariffs on every shipment, the country was staring down a barrel of economic ruin. Joining the EU would give them a favorable alternative—free movement of goods, services, and capital between countries, and the ability to trade and negotiate as a much larger bloc.

The EU’s mutual defense clause is similarly appealing. With the US wavering on NATO, Europe’s version ensures that an attack on any is an attack on all, with countries agreeing to respond “by all means in their power.” That is a much stronger trigger than NATO, where each member country can voluntarily choose what help to send.

As a bilingual country, with a parliamentary system and a social-democratic welfare model, Canada seems like it would be a good fit for the EU.

The only reason it can’t join is because Canada does not qualify as a “European state” under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. Morocco was turned away on the same grounds in 1987. But the idea has been floated enough that it’s worth considering whether federal layers like the EU should be open beyond geographic bounds. Or as I prefer: whether countries should be able to join part of a federal layer without joining all of it. Canada, after all, might want to join a tariff-free trade agreement or a national defense clause, but be less enticed to adopt the EURO or place the EU court system above theirs.

Why shouldn’t Canada be able to join some, but not all of the EU?