Montecara–Euclean Community relations
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 Montecara |
 Euclean Community |
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Montecara is not a member of the Euclean Community, but it does have extensive relations with both the Community and its member states.
Trade
The EC is Montecara's largest trading partner by a wide margin, and Florena is its largest individual state trading partner. Montecara relies almost entirely on the EC for its supplies of such staples as grain, natural gas, chemicals, and oil. The EC is the destination of the vast majority of Montecara's exports, especially precision tools, luxury goods, medical instruments, and pharmaceuticals.
Proposed membership
| Ratification of EC Membership Agreement, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| To ratify the agreement negotiated by the State of Montecara and the Euclean Community with the aim of securing membership in the Community | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | June 28, 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Yes
No
Montecara's last serious attempt to join the EC was made in 1996, when the Colegio and Senate both approved the necessary treaties of accession. When they came to a vote by the Popular Assembly, however, they were defeated by a margin of over 60%.
In the lead-up to the Popular Assembly vote, major trade unions came out strongly against the proposal, arguing that membership in the Community would undermine worker protections and allow an influx of cheap foreign labor into the country. Small entrepreneurs and craftsmen also feared increased competition from abroad, and renters reported concerns about increased housing costs and fewer available units in consequence of mass migration.
The financial sector, on the other hand, was strongly pro-membership, and executives of several prominent banking institutions made public statements to the effect that Montecara would stand to gain far more than it would lose by having essentially unrestricted access to a vast capital market. Many political liberals also supported membership on the basis of heightened international cooperation and the progress of the pan-Euclean project. Students and young people also generally supported membership for several reasons, including the increased ability to live, work, and study abroad.