An "expanded" Schengen Area that crosses the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and brings Canada, Australia (and Japan, maybe?) into the fold would be an incredible thing. I'm all for it.
The reddit post links to: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/australia-on-same-page-canada-it-seeks-deeper-eu-alliance-minister-says-2026-09-15/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/business/australia-on-same-page-cana...</a>
Canada has long had a very good free trade deal with the EU, which eliminated 98% of tariffs in 2016 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Economic_and_Trade_Agreement" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Economic_and_Tra...</a>
Of course the 2% of items not included are pretty substantial, it's basically most agricultural products you'd want to ship across the ocean.<p>There's also strict country of origin rules so if too many materials are sourced outside Canada, even if its made in Canada it can be subject to tariffs. Not to mention needing to adhere to EU standards.
LOL Canada should seek deeper internal alliances first. Since 2015, every year the QoL gets worse.
Is the declining QoL in the room right now?
There is a group of people in canada which takes care of QoL and another group of people taking care of external relationships and trade.<p>And normally this helps a country?
Why not both? Perfection is <i>the</i> enemy of good.<p>More good reliable friends is always better, and fuck the unreliable backstabbing ones as much as possible and reasonable, future will sort out details. World is not static, alliances change and we may revert in future if US population decides it wants to be ruled over by more reasonable, respectable and kind people.
It has always surprised me that the 'free world', NATO countries, developed countries (including Japan, Taiwan, Australia), however one wants to call them, do not have at least free trade, if not free movement of people and capital, between them.<p>A travesty, IMO. And a great loss making us all poorer. Not a patchwork of point-to-point free trade agreements, but several hub agreements that countries join, and, in time, the hubs agree to free trade between them too.
The politics of this is grindingly difficult; people think of "them and us", not "we're all together in three free world". Achieving free trade means either dismantling all the little market carve-outs that local politics relies on, or enshrining them in the collective (EU farming policy).<p>Imagine trying to integrate the politics of Japanese rice farming into the CAP.
I guess that's what the EU is trying to be.
The schengen zone is exactly this hub agreement isn't it?
IIRC schengen zone is about people, not about goods. There are like 10 almost overlaping zones. This is a map recently posted by amenghra:<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1tda6wl/european_integration_updated_2026_a_eular_diagram/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1tda6wl/european_in...</a>
Is Schen-zen a city in China?
PRC's trade surplus is pushing for a wide customs union. This is a part of this trend.
Amazing, let's please do Japan and Taiwan next.
Canada doesn't even have free trade internally... It's literally easier to sell to the US or EU than to another province.
For me the most striking thing about this was before the Brexit referendum there was rhetoric about how the UK would form a CANZUK alliance with free movement of people and goods between these countries, forming a sort of English speaking EU.<p>Even if Canada and Australia don't join the EU as full members which is unlikely anyway (deeper ties are definitely on the table though), these sort of announcements should put to bed these complete and utter fantasies the UK has about leading some alternative world order where it's in charge and can go toe to toe with the EU.<p><a href="https://boris-johnson.com/2013/08/25/the-aussies-are-just-like-us-so-lets-stop-kicking-them-out/" rel="nofollow">https://boris-johnson.com/2013/08/25/the-aussies-are-just-li...</a><p><a href="https://www.ippr.org/articles/could-the-idea-of-the-anglosphere-tempt-voters-towards-brexit" rel="nofollow">https://www.ippr.org/articles/could-the-idea-of-the-anglosph...</a><p>Even many British would agree that Brexit was full of absolute lies, and even to this day you still see them being repeated in certain circles. These weren't even possibilities.
Australian here. Theres no way we’re joining the EU. Brussels is on the other side of the planet from Australia. Our major trading partners are nearby countries, like China, Japan, NZ, and the US. Not continental Europe. Europe is too far away.
Brussels and DC are almost the same distance from Canberra.<p>(Also Australian, but living in the US.)<p><a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/southeast-asia-pacific/australia" rel="nofollow">https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/southeast-asia-pacific/au...</a><p>> U.S. goods and services (exports plus imports) trade with Australia totaled an estimated $102.0 billion in 2025, up 15.6 percent ($13.8 billion) from 2024.<p><a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/eu-australia-trade/" rel="nofollow">https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/eu-australia...</a><p>> In 2024, trade in goods and services between the European Union and Australia was worth over €91 billion.<p>(That's $105B in FreedomBucks, and excludes the UK.)
> Brussels and DC are almost the same distance from Canberra.<p>Yes. We’re not interested in joining the EU. And we’re not interested in becoming a US state.<p>But trade doesn’t need to go all the way to DC. By plane, Sydney to LA is about - 13.5 hours. Sydney to Brussels is 20 hours. I imagine the difference is even greater for cargo ships, which can sail directly through the pacific. I have no idea how cargo goes from Australia to Europe. That sounds like a complex route.<p>As for trade, the US is important but they’re not our most important trading partner. China accounts for $326 billion aud in trade annually. If your numbers are right, that’s more than our trade with the US and Europe combined.<p>I suspect integrating into the EU single market wouldn’t be worth it for us. We’re not part of Europe. We’re not a European country.<p><a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/china/china-country-brief" rel="nofollow">https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/china/china-country-brief</a>
> We’re not interested in joining the EU.<p>The article isn't about <i>joining</i> the EU.<p>> But trade doesn’t need to go all the way to DC.<p>Nor Brussels; Perth to Greece via the Red Sea cuts the time, too.<p>> As for trade, the US is important but they’re not our most important trading partner.<p>OK, but the EU and US trade with Australia roughly equivalently per the numbers, and you said "the US. Not continental Europe".
Did you read TFA (the Reuters one) that quotes the Australian trade minister? Or are you somehow more involved in determining trade agreements than the minister?<p>Trump has upended decades of stable trade relationships. I would not assume anything right now.<p>(To be clear, neither Canada nor Australia are claimed to be seeking to be EU members - but closer trade ties with the EU appear to be on the cards for both nations. When you can no longer trust the US to act in good faith, everything changes.)
It is a total fantasy that Australia would throw back in with the ghost empire that is the UK. They literally have nothing to offer us apart from a figurehead head of state.
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You have the same right to apply for asylum.<p>"as an Australian" claims of escaping persecution and violence might be slightly harder to sustain. That's a <i>good</i> thing for Australia.
You'd both have the same rights.<p>I suspect you know this, which is why you pivoted from "right to live" to "would be welcomed", which are pretty clearly not the same thing.
As a non-Australian, I’d say your country’s own immigration policy is fairly unwelcoming.<p>I get no country wants to accept a wave of 80 year olds that will be a burden to its social welfare systems.<p>But I find it strange one would automatically deny seasoned working professionals in excellent health with knowledge, experience, and finances to offer — just because they were born before the premier of Good Morning Australia in 1981.
Per capita, Australia lets in more migrants per year than almost any other wealthy country. Our immigration process is non political - it’s run by a government department who write, publish and enforce our policies. Which is a huge step up from many other countries we could name.<p>You may disagree with our selection criteria. I wish we provided exceptions for people I like too. But at a large scale, I think it’s much better that we make our rules clear and stick to them.
West Indian migration put an end to that[0]. Unintended side effect of good old British racism.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-empire-windrush/empire-windrush-caribbean-migration/" rel="nofollow">https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-...</a>
Too bad those countries are so far apart even if they've once been part of the same empire.
"Even if Canada and Australia don't join the EU as full members"<p>The European project is bigger than the EU - that's just the central core.<p>There's also the EFTA, EEA, CEFTA, CU, Eurozone, Shengen, CoE, and Swiss-style bilateral treaties.<p>See <a href="https://thisbugslife.com/2021/05/10/graphic-representation-of-efta-eea-eu-uk/" rel="nofollow">https://thisbugslife.com/2021/05/10/graphic-representation-o...</a><p>Canada can easily find a home one of these.
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And you want to indicate what with your smile?
AfD won in a marginal state and it's a very, very long way for them to win federal elections in Germany.
The AfD is polling ~30% for federal elections[1]. The NSDAP had 18.3% in 1930[2], 37.3% in 1932[3], 33.1% in 1932[4] and 43.9% in 1933[5].<p>Yes they are still away from having the absolute majority, but please don't undersell the issue. They have a 10% difference from the second place.<p><pre><code> [1] https://dawum.de/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_German_federal_election
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_1932_German_federal_election
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1932_German_federal_election
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1933_German_federal_election</code></pre>
Hopefully defensive democracy finally shows its teeth and they come through with the long-overdue ban of this fascist party.
Australia is also trying to ban their equivalent political party, so both countries are on the same page still:<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/08/neo-nazi-white-australia-ban-authoritarian-breaches-constitution-high-court-ntwnfb" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/08/neo-n...</a>
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