Those candidate countries include Western Balkan countries as well as Ukraine and Moldova which are progressing well (if slowly) on the EU pathway, but also Turkey and Georgia, which have stalled due to democratic backsliding and concerns over the rule of law.
While some of the Canadian vibes are good, any decision would, ultimately, belong to the European Commission and the bloc’s member countries.
As a note of caution for any excitable europhiles in Ottawa, when the EU’s southern neighbor Morocco applied for membership in 1987, its application was declined on the grounds that it was not a European state.
French farmers wouldn’t like it
Although some EU scholars have arguments about why Canada’s EU membership is possible, others threw cold water on the prospect.
To begin with, Canadians would need to be deadly serious about their so-called Europeanness. So far, the poll responses may have been “an emotional move on the part of Canadians,” according to Bosse, the professor from Maastricht University.
Prior to joining the EU in 2004, Central European countries continually framed their accession as a “return to Europe,” the place of their historical belonging.