Britain officially left the European Union on Friday. Still, the prime minister has not gotten a deal from the European Union, for the UK-EU relationship post-Brexit. Many have put forward the idea of CANZUK as the UK’s next major trading bloc, but what is CANZUK and why are people calling for it?
CANZUK is a theoretical trading bloc, acting much like the EU and NAFTA does, but with a classical British twist. It would only comprise of certain nations made up from the former British Empire.
As the name suggests, there will be four main members: Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, hence the acronym “CANZUK”.
We actually brought up the subject in one of our first posts, discussing why Britain isn’t leaving Europe, only the EU.
What would the benefits of a CANZUK agreement be?
Whilst the organization is merely a theoretical one, with nothing set in stone as of yet. It is gaining traction. And a lot of traction at that!
Before the Brexit Vote in 2016, the idea was generally frowned upon, not just by the nations involved, but also the international community as a whole. But, after the vote, people started to take it more seriously, as a way to minimize the economic impact of Brexit.
Whilst many would argue that none of this is official, nor is it officially supported by any of the nations involved (although Britain seems to be trying to sweet talk the other members into trying this!)
There are a few things that would likely be a staple of CANZUK, even before pen is put to paper!
Invisible borders
OK, this isn’t entirely true, well it might, just not how you are thinking of it. Unlike in the EU, where I could walk from the Southern-most tip of Portugal to the Northern-most part of Estonia, without showing a passport, this would not work for most of the agreements members.
Most of the members would be islands of some sort, such as Australia, New Zealand and the UK. This would make invisible borders almost impossible, from both a safety point of view and a practical point of view.
But there would be a different, more British solution- different airport queues. If you’ve ever been to Europe, you’ll know that EU citizens go in one line and non-EU citizens go in another line.
This would also be a likely case for CANZUK members, who would have their own separate line, as a sort of fast track for when you went to another member country.
Intelligence
People who support the movement believe that if it was to be implemented, there would be a shared intelligence act. This would be known as the ‘Five Eyes‘, which dates back to the 1940’s.
For reference, the fifth member of this would the proverbial ‘Elephant in the room’- the United States.
It would see the police forces of all four nations (and potentially the US’s), being interlinked. It would see them passing information to each other, just as members of Europol do inside the EU currently!
It would also see militaristic operations being undertaken by a combined, yet separate military. It might see Canadian, Australian, New Zealander and British ships preventing a Chinese blockade in the South China Sea.
It would also see a combined Canadian, Australian, New Zealander and British troops serving together in peacekeeping missions in the Middle East, as a sort of quasi-monomilitary. (This would take place even more so than it does already!)
Foreign policy co-operation
The whole point of the EU is to create one organization that is the center for all of Europe’s internal foreign policy, and most of its foreign policy*.
*Minus those European countries with colonies/former colonies and/or good relationships with other countries, such as Britain and America’s good friendship.
An agreement like CANZUK would do the same, but likely going further. It would likely go all the way, and be the only the body that would decide foreign policy for any of the whole bloc.
This would be so other members, such as Australia or New Zealand would be able to access a similar deal to that of the Canada-EU deal. Whereby, Canadian-EU imports aren’t subject to many tariffs as they are with another country.
This would also continue beyond the EU, and access other trade deals with other countries, such as CANZUK’s introduction into NAFTA, or a NAFTA-style deal being offered to the bloc.
Free trade and economic boost
Originally, there were three main objectives: brotherhood, free movement and foreign policy co-operation between the countries. Since the Brexit vote however, free trade and economic incentives were also added into the mix, due to a large British pro-CANZUK movement after the vote to leave the EU was announced.
CANZUK would now see a free trade agreement that would aim to replicate that of the EU’s. No tariffs whatsoever on EU goods in side the EU.
CANZUK would be no different. There would be zero tariffs between member nation’s goods.
This would mean that a hobbyist in the Yukon, could buy a barbecue from Victoria, and pay zero tariffs on that barbecue.
But, think of this on a bigger scale, such as Australia’s natural resources, Britain’s pharmaceuticals, New Zealand’s milk and Canada’s mineral fuels. All with zero tariffs!
What would the drawbacks of CANZUK?
Naturally, as with anything like this, there is a healthy amount of skepticism surrounding it. By it’s very nature, it will have enemies, whether out of a genuine worry for something going wrong, or just pure jealousy.
Racism
No, I’m not trying to say that James Skinner, the founder of CANZUK International is inherently racist. I’m not. I have personally never met him, but by watching some of his seminars on the agreement, I would say that this isn’t his intention.
Nevertheless, some have pointed out a few glaring flaws:
- All the countries are majority white
- They are all predominantly English speaking (minus Quebec in Canada who speak French)
- It inherently misses out former British colonies of non-white majority, due to their ‘lack of economic progress’
- It only allows former British colonies to be considered, which misses out important non-Anglophonic (English-speaking) nations based on language
This has caused some critics to argue that it would be an unfair system, that would actually harm those member countries rather than helping them.
“It’s a fantasy”
British critic Nick Cohen has repeatedly called the agreement a “Fantasy”, which has lead to many people to question the agreement.
He claims that it would be an unfeasible idea in the modern world, as it would aim to bring back together four nations that have grown apart since the collapse of the British Empire.
He claims that when the nations got their independence from the British, they tried to distance themselves as much as possible from their colonial roots (or as much as possible anyway).
He claims that as such, they have grown too far apart, and as such, trying to bring them back together based on a historical concept is futile, as, just like the British Empire, it will crumble.
It has failed before
In 2012, before CANZUK really was a thing, there was a bill put through the British Parliament that would allow “subjects of Her Majesty’s realms to enter the United Kingdom through a dedicated channel at international terminals.”
This bill failed miserably. Well, not exactly. It was deemed to not be of sufficient value to the UK, and was left until last to be discussed. By the time Parliament came around to focusing on it, Parliament was almost adjourned, and the bill was dismissed.
This has led many to believe that due to its past failure, it will fail again due to politician’s disinterest.
However, supporters of the agreement have argued that the increased public awareness and support will help to influence those same disinterest politicians to vote for CANZUK!
Will CANZUK actually happen?
Part of me really hopes that CANZUK does indeed become reality. All four nations would likely benefit from it in the long run, even if there are some small cultural differences in the short term.
I would guess that Britain is the most desperate for CANZUK to happen given their recent departure from the EU wothout a trade deal as yet. It is also reported (by James Skinner’s non-profit however) that Britain is chasing a “Union With Canada, Australia And New Zealand.”
Sadly, I doubt that it will happen soon. I doubt that Britain, nor Canada, nor Australia, nor New Zealand would put their name down for an agreement like this, until a UK-EU trade deal was worked out.
I believe that the other nations, those who aren’t directly affected by Brexit, are waiting to see how Brexit continues to play out. They will be waiting to see the affects that Brexit will likely have on them or on Britain joining another bloc of countries.
They’ll want to know 100% what will happen to them, and their current agreements with the EU, before even considering putting pen to paper and signing a document like that.
What do you think? Will CANZUK become a reality or is it just a fantasy? Tell me in the comments!
Damn, only heard about CANZUK this morning despite writing a thesis on Brexit! Anyway, thanks for the article, very instructive. I like how you presented both sides despite being really into CANZUK. Good job (and that’s coming from a very pro-EU Frenchman !)