If Canada joins the EU via the Denmark border, that could lead to a world where the US (and the rest of the americas) also joins the EU
Title assumes the current reality changes to one where stupid shit still happens but it's not always "And then it got worse" (lmao)
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The EU already has a land border in the Americas. French Guiana is part of the union and it touches Brazil and Suriname. So the gate is already open to work it from the south up instead of the north down.
I read somewhere -- great source, I know -- that the existing rule is that the country has to be in Europe, though, not that it has a border. Otherwise Malta, Ireland, and Cyprus would not qualify, and the UK too back when they were in.
Oddly enough, the Canadian/Danish border is a questionable one for this purpose anyway -- Hans Island (where the border is) is part of Greenland and Greenland is not in the EU. It left in 1985 and is now one of the "Overseas countries and territories" that have special rights in relation to the EU but are not actually in it.
Technically, the UK has 2 train tunnel size boarders with France. (And a service tunnel?)
I went and looked it up, and it does say any "European" country, but it does not define what a European country is anywhere that I've found so far.
So now that I've said something that could be wrong, hopefully someone with more EU legal knowledge can come um actually us since I can't find that legal definition as it pertains to the EU anywhere.
Find me any definition that is or is not Europe. If you can draw a line between the Mediterranean, Baltic and Atlantic, sure. Britain, Ireland and associated islands? Iceland? Greenland? Scandinavia? What about to the East over land? Is Russia European? How much of it?
The definition of "Europe" is useless because the definition of "continent" is useless. Australia: does the continent of Australia include Tasmania and/or New Zealand? Some folks claim both Americas are one continent because they were connected at the Isthmus until we sawed Panama in half. If we classify them separately, where does North America end and South America begin? My middle school taught that North America only had three nations on it, Canada, USA and Mexico. Mexico is on North America but Belize isn't? What about Greenland? Africa: Madagascar? The Arabian peninsula? Asia: Japan? What about India? Is the "subcontinent" part of Asia?
Europe is the least convincing of them all. Pretty much nowhere else do you have to start mentioning "culture" when drawing a border between continents.
III. CONDITIONS OF ACCESSION a) The European State
The sole material condition laid down by Article O of the TEU is that the applicant must be a 'European State'. There is no unequivocal interpretation of that criterion. It can be read equally well in geographical, cultural or political terms.
In 1987 an application to become a Member of the Communities was received from Morocco. The application was rejected by the Council on the grounds that Morocco was not a European State ( 7). In the case of Turkey, Article 28 of the Association Agreement signed in 1963 incudes the option of Turkey's eventually acceding to the Communities. Turkey in fact lodged an application to accede on 14 April 1987. Historically, Turkey has formed part of the so-called 'European concert'. Although part of Turkey's territory is located geographically in Asia, Parliament, the Council and the Commission have confirmed Turkey's eligibility ( 8). This example shows that the term 'European State' need not be interpreted in a strictly geographical sense. It is at all events a criterion subject to political assessment.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/briefings/23a2_en.htm
No no no. That's not how being corrected on the internet works! You have to be wrong, AND be certain that you're right! THEN someone can come along and say "Actually...."
Cyprus is technically in Asia, not in Europe, and as such it shouldn't qualify. But they make the rules and choose how to apply them, so they can allow for deviations if they want.
Technically Asia and Europe are part of the same continent, Eurasia, as unlike all the other continents they are not fully separated by water. Even more technically, 'continents' are a linguistic phenomenon and have arbitrary boundaries and definitions.
Let's be honest, there's no "technically" about it either way. There is no real definition of what a continent is beyond "we call it a continent"
That is what the second part of my comment was saying.
...not sure how I managed to miss that
Especially Europe. Turn the world map upside down and see if Europe looks like a "continent".
Besides Denmark there is also France - and incidentally this border is also the closest sea border the French have to any other country: Saint Pierre et Miquelon. But the collectivité d’outre-mer that they are formally not part of the EU but only EU associated. But France could easily change a single law to make them part of the EU. So if that is a criteria that is nothing that can't be overcome.
Beside that we would fucking love to have Canada in the EU. I have yet to find a single EU citizen who has a problem with that idea.
I’ll take some of that special rights and privileges without being part of EU as well.
Basically Northern Irish people