Argument: Geographical stretch too far

Cape Verde is just too far from Europe – it is 400 miles off the coast of Senegal compared to almost 1,900 miles from the Portuguese mainland. [1] The European Union has never had a member from Africa, and neither have other European institutions such as the Council of Europe. [2] The Canary Islands and similar archipelagos are not helpful as a precedent because they are integral parts of other nations that are themselves clearly positioned on the European continent.

The sole condition for EU membership is that the applicant must be a European state, something Cape Verde is not. Would the EU really be willing to have a member so far from it as a full member, when Morocco, just across the strait of Gibraltar, was rejected for that reason? [3]

[1] ‘Distance from Praia to…’, timeanddate.com, http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distances.html?n=685

[2] ‘Member States’, coe.int, http://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/country-profiles

[3] ‘Legal questions of enlargement’, Briefing No 23, europarl.europa.eu, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/briefings/23a2_en.htm#F7

Candidate 1: "Size is not necessarily a problem; it means it is much simpler for the EU to pull Cape Verde up to European standards than it would be with a larger country. It also means there will be few concerns about membership; no one is going to be worried about emigration from a country with a tiny population.

The process would also not be immediate; countries take at a minimum five years and often over a decade to join the EU. There are other potential candidates such as Moldova, with a lower GDP per capita, which has been touted as a potential member by Romania [1] . Cape Verde has a service based economy, like many EU member states. It is already a member of the WTO, and has had good solid economic growth [2] . Moreover the entire accession process is built around helping potential member states achieve these criteria, and Cape Verde, due to its small size, would not face the biggest challenges to get in.

There is no reason why Cape Verde joining the EU is somehow impractical on an economic level.

[1] Nn, “Romania urges EU membership date for Moldova”, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 19 March 2014, http://www.rferl.org/content/moldova-eu-membership-romania/25302886.html

[2] World Bank, “Cabo Verde Data”, data.worldbank.org, http://data.worldbank.org/country/cape-verde"
Candidate 2: "Cape Verde should determine its own role in the world – not be beholden to the interests of a continental bloc.

Paradoxically by moving towards Europe Cape Verde could be a much better model for the African continent – it would show that African states, even small ones, are capable of becoming developed countries. An African country successfully joining European institutions would give hope to the rest of the continent that there could be closer integration and cooperation in the future."
Candidate 3: "EU member states regularly have territories even further abroad than off the coast of West Africa – including even territory on the mainland of South America, French Guiana, a French overseas region. Cyprus is an EU member state too, in the Eastern Mediterranean sea sandwiched between Turkey and Syria. Cyprus is over 300 miles from any other EU territory, over water. In an era of telecommunications and international trade, is this distance too much of a problem?"

EU member states regularly have territories even further abroad than off the coast of West Africa – including even territory on the mainland of South America, French Guiana, a French overseas region. Cyprus is an EU member state too, in the Eastern Mediterranean sea sandwiched between Turkey and Syria. Cyprus is over 300 miles from any other EU territory, over water. In an era of telecommunications and international trade, is this distance too much of a problem?
