After the EU’s offer to Canada, could Australia also embrace a ‘Eurovision’?

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s bold move to have Canada join the European Union (EU) as an “associate member” has led to discussion of Australia following in Canada’s footsteps. After all, Australia has been represented in the Eurovision song contest since 2015, so why not join the EU?

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell, who has done more than many of his predecessors in getting Australia closer to a free-trade agreement with Europe, hasn’t ruled it out. He told The Sydney Morning Herald.

The world is dividing into protectionists and free traders. It’s indisputable that Australian prosperity of the last 50 years has all been about our engagement with the world.

When it comes to potential new arrangements with Europe, Farrell was quoted as saying he’s open to all possibilities. He has done some excellent spade work winning over the support of key countries like France in forging the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement. The deal was agreed in March but has yet to be ratified on either side.

And a top EU official, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, said she expected nations including Australia and New Zealand would want to deepen their relationship with the EU.

So why the sudden interest in Europe?

Why Europe matters

First, size matters. As a bloc, the EU’s economy is the world’s second biggest. It’s smaller than America’s but, at $US23 trillion (A$32.3 trillion) annually, it is still bigger than China’s.

And with the Trump administration increasingly hostile towards Canada and other long-standing allies, no wonder Canada and Australia are seeking out new deals with friendlier players such as the EU.

Second, the Brexit effect. Before Brexit, Aussie exporters would go to London and base all their business there. In fact, when I was working as chief economist at Austrade, our trade commissioner in Frankfurt, Germany, used to complain about Australians’ “Europhobia”. He was referring to exporters travelling to Britain to set up shop, basing themselves in London, and doing most of their business there and never crossing the English channel to approach the European market.

This is still the case, in fact. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over 6,600 Australian exporters sell goods to the UK, which is twice the number exporting to Germany and more than three times that of France.

Third, Australia and the EU have seemingly gotten over their obsession with agricultural protectionism. Relations with Europe haven’t been helped by some historical animosity over contentious trade issues, such as the extravagant agricultural subsidies paid within the EU. These have been seen as going against the interests of Australian farmers.

The new free-trade agreement gives Australian farmers preferential access to the EU in beef, sheep, dairy and horticulture products. It also gives Australian financial services, education and other service providers greater market access to the EU.

However, the Nationals believe it doesn’t go far enough for farmers, calling it the “worst deal ever”. Nationals leader and trade spokesman, Matt Canavan, raised the possibility of blocking the agreement in the Senate.

How we got here

US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in 2025 followed China’s unilateral tariffs on Australian wine, barley, timber and other products in 2023. These trade wars have led to the realignment of trading interests as nations have shifted exports away from the US and China and boosted trade with other regions.

As Trump’s trade belligerence towards Canada has escalated in recent weeks, Carney made the first overtures to the EU, which were met with a warm reception and the offer to become the bloc’s first “associate member”.

But what would “associate membership” of the EU actually mean for Australia? Would we get trade concessions without being harmed by European red tape? After all, the EU was originally a customs union – a common market.

The European project began with the best of intentions. It was set up to prevent another war between France and Germany, and to create lasting peace and economic stability in Europe. This has largely been achieved.

But as the European project evolved, it became a question of how far to take a customs union. It was expanded to include a common currency, central bank and foreign policy. But as much as European unity is desirable, it has its limits. National identity still trumps it.

As journalist Mark Kenny once noted, “Australia can enter the Eurovision song contest, but Europe can’t.”

Before such a proposal can go anywhere, there’s the free-trade agreement to ratify. The Nationals’ Canavan sees an opportunity to disrupt the deal and win back some One Nation voters with a bit of anti-globalist populist rhetoric.

In Farrell’s defence, it could be said that while not perfect, the deal will deliver more for Australian farmers than ever before. And it will be a platform for more gains in future.

And then, associate membership in the EU in the future? It is not clear what this would entail, as there is no official provision in the treaty yet. It may mean limited market access, but not much else.

A comprehensive trade deal might be the best outcome for now. The true irony might be that Trump may turn Australia’s long-standing Europhobia into giving us Eurovision.