The 'Canaduropean' Union: Canada an associate member of the EU?

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, September 17: Will Canada become an associate member of the EU? Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen floated the idea in a speech but did not give any details about what it would entail. The press is reacting with scepticism. Also, Le Monde profiles some of the 8,000 people who died during France's summer heatwave. Scientists observe a humpback whale mourning her dead calf for the first time. And Singapore wants to pay citizens to stop scrolling and start reading.

If it goes ahead, Canada could be the first associate member of the European Union. According to Euroactiv, the European media outlet, Ursula von der Leyen put forward the proposal in her State of the Union speech yesterday, specifying that the alliance is not against anyone else but for both parties’ common strengths. The outlet also reminds us that von der Leyen made a similar bid for Ukraine earlier this year, which received a lukewarm response from EU member states. French communist paper l’Humanité, responded wryly: "Ursula von der Leyen doesn’t have oil but she does have ideas."

For the international press, US President Donald Trump clearly has pushed Canada into the EU’s arms. According to the New York Times, it is a sign of the "knock-on effects of Trump’s brand of diplomacy" which often involves threatening countries that were once considered US allies. The paper adds that even if the EU’s gesture ends up being symbolic, it shows how Trump is upending global relationships in ways that will be hard to undo. The editors of Belgian daily Le Soir hails the “new trans-Atlantic union” – noting that it comes at a time where inside the bloc, anti-EU sentiment is rising while, outside the bloc, warmongering is rising. British daily The Guardian wonders if this proposed membership could be a blueprint for future EU-UK relations. In any case, the Guardian says that the bigger the ambitions for relations with the EU, the better. In Canada’s case, the potential alliance offers rich supplies of minerals and rare earths.

Meanwhile, the Canadian press remains very sceptical. Le Devoir wonders what Canada would gain from this alliance. The leader of the opposition already denounced what he calls a threat to Canadian sovereignty. The Globe and Mail note bitterly that Canada already signed a trade deal with the EU ten years ago but 10 of the 27 members have still not ratified it.

The French paper Le Monde is looking back at this summer’s relentless series of deadly heatwaves. According to French public health authorities, this summer’s heatwaves were the hottest in 126 years and caused more than 8,100 deaths. In this interactive article entitled, "The Heatwave Casualties" – Le Monde puts a face to those who died even if, it says, the word heat-related does not appear on their death certificate. Several elderly people died but some as young as 18, including a young man who drowned while swimming in the Seine River.

Scientists say they’ve witnessed the first phenomenon of a humpback whale mother grieving for her stillborn calf. It’s the first detailed scientific study on the subject, according to the Australian academic website The Conversation. It took place last July off the east coast of Australia. For more than an hour, the mother whale returned to the same spot, suggesting she was grieving her dead calf. This sort of behaviour has been observed in the past in toothed whales – like the orca – but never before in untoothed or baleen whales – like the humpback. This is possibly because dead newborn baleen whales often sink quickly, making it difficult to observe such behaviour.

Finally, from you – Singapore is taking some drastic measures to get people off their phones. The Times reports that the country is planning to pay people to read as part of a government initiative aiming to mitigate online content. Readers who read for 15 minutes receive 20 virtual coins. They need 1000 to earn one Singapore dollar which means you need to read 12.5 hours to earn a dollar. The irony is that it is all logged online.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.