Who is responsible for the Icelandic EU application?

Apparantly no one is willing to shoulder the responsibility for the Icelandic application for membership of the European Union. Today representatives from Heimssýn, the Icelandic organisation opposed to EU membership, met with Romanian MEP Christian Dan Preda explaining to him that Icelanders simply have no interest in becoming members. Preda emphasised that the application was not the decision of the EU but the Icelandic government when told that the best thing to do was to put the whole thing on ice.

Predas comments cannot be understood otherwise than as an attempt to wash his and the EUs hands of responsibility for the application. Similar comments were made by EU representatives to the media last autumn when opinion polls in Iceland were showing an increased opposititon among Icelanders to EU membership. According to the results or the latest one published at the beginning of March this year as much as 70 percent of Icelanders would reject membership in a referendum.

While the EU points the finger at the Icelandic government claiming it solely responsible for the application the social democrat Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson insists he is only executing the decision of the Icelandic parliament. Still everybody knows that it was his government that pushed the application through the parliament a year ago with a narrow majority. Within the government the junior coalition partner, the Left Greens, then points the finger at the senior partner the Social Democratic Alliance.

The Icelandic government's EU application has become such a mess that no one wants to be responisble for it and everyone points the finger at someone else.

Source:
Enginn vill bera ábyrgð á ESB-umsókninni (Heimssyn.is May 25, 2010)

Cast no shadow on Iceland's national holiday, thank you

The Sports and leisure council of the City of Reykjavík (ÍTR) today issued a resolution requesting the Icelandic government to see to it that a formal decision will not be taken on next June 17 to start accession negotiations with the European Union. On that day Icelanders celebrate their national holiday but on June 17, 1944 Iceland became an independent country. The European Council will hold its next meeting that same day and a decision on negotiations may be taken there. The resolution reads as following:

"The request is directed to the government of Iceland to see to it that a shadow will not be cast on celebrations of the national holiday of Icelanders with a decision to start accession negotiations between Iceland and the European Union on that day. This is a delicate issue and it should be pointed out that the majority of the Icelandic people are opposed to EU membership."

The ÍTR is a politically appointed council with representatives from all the political parties in Iceland and among other things responsible for the June 17 celebration in Reykjavík. Five out of six representatives supported the resolution. Only one rejected it, a representative from the ruling Social Democratic Alliance which is the only political party in Iceland that supports EU membership. The other representative of the social democrats in the ÍTR, however, initiated the resolution.

This is yet another token of how little support joining the EU has in Iceland. According to the last poll in Iceland 70 percent would reject membership in a referendum.

Source:
Varpi ekki skugga á 17. júní (Mbl.is May 21, 2010)

Withdraw the EU application say 75 percent

In an internet poll produced by the Icelandic radio station Bylgjan on May 6 some 75 percent said they wanted Iceland's application for membership of the European Union to be withdrawn. Of those 62 percent wanted the application to be withdrawn completely while 13 percent wanted it to be withdrawn and postponed. Only 25 percent said they were opposed to the idea of withdrawing the application.

Source:
Bylgjan

The EU application has no support in Iceland

Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), said at a meeting today with fellow partymembers that the current left-wing government had proven unable to advance its application for membership of the European Union. He said the government was stuck in a vicious circle when it came to the EU issue which it couldn't get out of.

Benediktsson, who's party leads the opposition, criticised the government for spending enourmous time, manpower and money on the application for EU membership despite the fact that the issue has no political leadership and doesn't have the support of the Icelandic people. Furthermore, he said there was no majority for membership in the Icelandic parliament and not even within the government itself.

Source:
Bjarni vill að landsfundi verði flýtt (Vísir.is April 17, 2010)

Further reading:
Does Iceland want to join the EU?
How serious is Iceland about joining the EU?

The Social Democratic Alliance split in three on the EU issue

Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson have both dismissed the comments from Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, former FM and chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin), that it would perhaps be better to postpone Iceland's EU application in the light of the Icelandic people's massive opposition to membership. Sigurðardóttir, the current chairman of the social democrats, said she was not as pessimistic as her predecessor.

What the comments by Gísladóttir, however, reveal is that the Social Democratic Alliance, Iceland's only pro-EU party, is totally split on the EU issue (former FM Gísladóttir represents a certain wing within the party), but now not only between those who want to join and those who don't want to (between 20-30 percent of the voters of the party usually reject membership according to the polls). Now the supporthers of EU membership within the party are also split in two, those who want to proceed with the present application and those who think it would be better to postpone the whole issue.

Source:
Fráleitt að fresta viðræðum við ESB (Vísir.is April 10, 2010)

Former FM: No one is fighting for EU membership in Iceland

Former Foreign Minister of Iceland, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, said to the German journalist Clemens Bomdorf yesterday (April 8) that no one was really fighting for membership of the European Union in Iceland any longer. Membership would probably be rejected in a referendum and it was therefore even better to postpone the EU application rather than to continue the process in total uncertainty.

Gísladóttir is one of the most outspoken supporters of EU membership in Iceland and former chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance, the only political party in Iceland that favours membership. With these comments she joins a growing number of EU supporters in Iceland that have openly aired their worries about the EU application and predicted that it will be rejected by the Icelandic people.

Sources:
Betra að fresta ESB-viðræðum en halda þeim áfram í óvissu (Mbl.is April 9, 2010)
Stolz und Vorurteil (Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir 3) (Highnorth.wordpress.com April 8, 2010)

70 percent of Icelanders would reject EU membership

The newest opinion poll in Iceland on membership of the European Union published earlier this month suggests that about 70 percent of Icelanders would vote no if a referendum was held now, up more than 8 percent since September 2009. Of those 51 percent were absolutely certain they would reject membership. At the same time only about 30 percent said they would vote yes.

The same poll also asked if people were in favour of EU membership with 60 percent saying they were not and only 24.4 percent saying they were. If those undecided are excluded the outcome is pretty much the same as in the referendum question mentioned above.

The vast majority in all social groups are opposed to EU membership whether with regard to sex, age, education, income, residense, or political affiliation with only one exception, the majority of the voters of the social democrats favour membership.

Source:
The results of the Capacent poll

Does Iceland want to join the EU?

There were no celebrations in the streets of Reykjavík or elsewhere in Iceland when the European Commission announced on 24 February that it would recommend membership negotiations with the country. This really shouldn't come as a surprise in the light of the fact that Icelanders don't want to join the EU and probably never have.

According to the most recent public opinion poll in Iceland by Capacent, 56 percent are opposed to EU membership, up six percent since last September, while just 33 percent are in favour. Furthermore, the September poll showed a majority displeased with the government's EU application delivered last summer.

Read the full article

New poll on EU membership in Iceland

New poll in Iceland on the attitude of the Icelandic people towards EU membership produced by Capacent for the Farmers Association of Iceland and published today (February 28). The results are as follows:

33.2 percent in favour of EU membership (thereof 9.4 percent totally in favour, 7.2 percent very much in favour and 16.6 percent rather in favour).

56 percent opposed to EU membership (thereof 28.4 percent totally opposed, 11.3 percent very much opposed and 16.3 percent rather opposed).

26.8 percent trust the Icelandic government to defend the interests of the Icelandic people in Iceland's accession process to the EU.

58 percent do not trust the Icelandic government to defend the interests of the Icelandic people in Iceland's accession process to the EU.

A total of 1.173 people were polled with 68.7 percent participating.

This is in line with previous polls.

Sources:
Aðeins þriðjungur hlynntur ESB-aðild (Vísir.is February 28, 2010)
Meirihlutinn á móti ESB-aðild (Mbl.is February 28, 2010)

Icelandic companies say no to the EU

New poll which was released in Iceland today shows that about 60 percent of the leading people of Icelandic companies believe that Iceland is better placed economically outside the EU. Only 31 percent think the country would be better placed within it. This is in line with the last polls on the attitude of Icelanders in general towards EU membership.

Certain people in the Icelandic business community have been among the most powerful lobbyists for EU membership in recent years. A year ago a similar poll showed a totally different attitude towards the EU by the majority of the leading people of Icelandic companies. So this is seen a big news and yet another shock for the Icelandic pro-EU side.