Significant changes were made to the Icelandic center-left government last week with new ministers coming in and others leaving. After these changes political analysts have said there is more hostility against membership of the European Union within the government than was before they took place.
But what has been seen as the most interesting change is that the new government policy does not mention the EU issue at all unlike the original government platform. However, this is in line with repeated statements by government ministers in recent months that the ongoing EU application is not the policy of the government but merely the decision of the Icelandic parliament.
This has led to speculations in Iceland that the government, especially the junior partner the Left Greens, may be preparing an organised retreat on the issue. After all it has become clear that not only the government is split on the question whether to proceed with the application but also the senior government partner the social democrats.
Source:
Þögn um Icesave og ESB aðild í 20 mála verkefnaskrá ríkisstjórnarinnar (Evropuvaktin.is September 2, 2010)
9/04/2010
Majority now also against membership talks
For years supporters of membership of the European Union told the Icelandic people it was possible to enter some kind of a scouting membership talks with the EU without any formatlity or obligations. In Icelandic it was called "könnunarviðræður". Membership talks with the sole aim to see exactly what the EU had to offer.
Even when the application for EU membership was delivered last year by the Icelandic government its leaders claimed the aim was not to join the EU but merely to see what it had to offer and they are still saying this. Now they are finally realising that the EU has whole other ideas about the process after the application.
For years public opinion polls as a result showed a majority for "membership talks" while there was usually majority at the same time against in polls asking if people were in favour of "applying for EU membership". But now people have obviously finally realised that some scouting membership talks are not on the table.
As a result a new poll produced for the pro-EU movement in Iceland showed a majority against "membership talks". This was in fact their final straw when it came to public opinion polls and now they don't have that anymore.
Even when the application for EU membership was delivered last year by the Icelandic government its leaders claimed the aim was not to join the EU but merely to see what it had to offer and they are still saying this. Now they are finally realising that the EU has whole other ideas about the process after the application.
For years public opinion polls as a result showed a majority for "membership talks" while there was usually majority at the same time against in polls asking if people were in favour of "applying for EU membership". But now people have obviously finally realised that some scouting membership talks are not on the table.
As a result a new poll produced for the pro-EU movement in Iceland showed a majority against "membership talks". This was in fact their final straw when it came to public opinion polls and now they don't have that anymore.
9/02/2010
Increasing support for the Independence Party
The support for the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) has increased significantly this summer after the party underlined its opposition to membership of the European Union by demanding that the application would be withdrawn without delay.
The Independence Party continues to be by far the largest political party and now has according to Capacent poll 35 percent of the votes compared to only 24 percent in the last general elections in Iceland in the spring of 2009.
The party which has lost most support according to the poll is the Social Democratic Alliance which is the only Icelandic political party that favours EU membership.
Source:
Fylgi Sjálfstæðisflokksins eykst á milli mánaða (Capacent.is August 12, 2010)
The Independence Party continues to be by far the largest political party and now has according to Capacent poll 35 percent of the votes compared to only 24 percent in the last general elections in Iceland in the spring of 2009.
The party which has lost most support according to the poll is the Social Democratic Alliance which is the only Icelandic political party that favours EU membership.
Source:
Fylgi Sjálfstæðisflokksins eykst á milli mánaða (Capacent.is August 12, 2010)
8/27/2010
Applying for EU membership not the government's policy
Iceland's Finance Minister, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, gave a statement at a press meeting on Tuesday that it was neither his government's policy to apply for membership of the European Union nor join up. It was merely the decision of the country's parliament to send in an application.
This Sigfússon said in the wake of recent comments by the Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Jón Bjarnason, to the newspaper Morgunblaðið that the whole accession process should be stopped since it was not just simple negotiations as the Icelandic people had be told.
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was also answering questions at the press meeting and underlined Sigfússon's statement by saying that the Fisheries and Agriculture Minister had an obligation to execute decisions by the parliament just like other government ministers.
This is in line with previous comments this year by Iceland's Foreign Minister that the EU application was not the government's policy but only the parliament's decision and that the purpose of the application was primarily to see what the EU had to offer but not to join.
Source:
„Ekki stefna ríkisstjórnarinnar að sækja um aðild að ESB“ - Hver sótti þá um aðild Steingrímur? (Pressan.is August 24, 2010)
This Sigfússon said in the wake of recent comments by the Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Jón Bjarnason, to the newspaper Morgunblaðið that the whole accession process should be stopped since it was not just simple negotiations as the Icelandic people had be told.
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was also answering questions at the press meeting and underlined Sigfússon's statement by saying that the Fisheries and Agriculture Minister had an obligation to execute decisions by the parliament just like other government ministers.
This is in line with previous comments this year by Iceland's Foreign Minister that the EU application was not the government's policy but only the parliament's decision and that the purpose of the application was primarily to see what the EU had to offer but not to join.
Source:
„Ekki stefna ríkisstjórnarinnar að sækja um aðild að ESB“ - Hver sótti þá um aðild Steingrímur? (Pressan.is August 24, 2010)
7/30/2010
EU membership? No thank you!
European politicians and journalists visiting Iceland in recent months have been quite astonished to experience first hand how little interest Icelandic MPs and Icelanders in general have in joining the European Union. So astonished in fact that Icelandic lawmakers have repeatedly been asked if the EU application delivered by the Icelandic government in 2009 is really serious. Well, quite frankly it isn't. It is a door bell prank. No one really is there when the bell rings and the door is opened.
There is a reason why Iceland has never before applied to join the EU. There has always been a strong opposition to membership in the country. The necessary support among the Icelandic people has in fact never been there and the present government was and is well aware of that. Still the EU was deliberately told differently. And now the EU is waking up to a bad dream and realising that Icelanders quite simply don't want to join the EU and never have. That the EU application is in fact a lame duck.
Read the whole article
There is a reason why Iceland has never before applied to join the EU. There has always been a strong opposition to membership in the country. The necessary support among the Icelandic people has in fact never been there and the present government was and is well aware of that. Still the EU was deliberately told differently. And now the EU is waking up to a bad dream and realising that Icelanders quite simply don't want to join the EU and never have. That the EU application is in fact a lame duck.
Read the whole article
7/24/2010
Iceland's Foreign Minister in his own world
Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson said yesterday in an interview with Mbl.is, the website of the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið, that he thought that support for his government's application to join the European Union had increased among Icelandic MPs. Ask what evidence he had for his claim he said he knew the parliament. Skarphéðinsson's Social Democratic Alliance is the senior partner in Iceland's current coalition government and the country's only pro-EU political party.
Today Mbl.is has asked leading people from the other political parties represented in the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, if their think support for EU membership has increased among their MPs. They all agree that they haven't sensed anything of that sort but on the contrary that there is a rising scepticism among them. This includes the chairman of the Left Greens, the junior coalition partner. It is safe to say that Skaphéðinsson's comments have amazed people in Iceland as no one recognises them to be true. Not even MPs in his own party find them in the position of being able to back up his comments.
Skarphéðinsson has been travelling to various EU countries this summer speaking with leading people about his government's EU application and has probably been giving them a wrong picture of the situation in Iceland including the claim that support has been increasing for EU membership among the country's MPs. The only plauseble reason why the Foreign Minister is putting forward this claim must be an attempt to calm Brussels over the little support joining the EU has in Iceland.
Sources:
Aukinn stuðningur við aðild (Mbl.is July 23, 2010)
Afstaða VG til ESB óbreytt (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Skynjar ekki aukinn stuðning (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Össur að tala til Brussel (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Ummæli Össurar koma á óvart (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Today Mbl.is has asked leading people from the other political parties represented in the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, if their think support for EU membership has increased among their MPs. They all agree that they haven't sensed anything of that sort but on the contrary that there is a rising scepticism among them. This includes the chairman of the Left Greens, the junior coalition partner. It is safe to say that Skaphéðinsson's comments have amazed people in Iceland as no one recognises them to be true. Not even MPs in his own party find them in the position of being able to back up his comments.
Skarphéðinsson has been travelling to various EU countries this summer speaking with leading people about his government's EU application and has probably been giving them a wrong picture of the situation in Iceland including the claim that support has been increasing for EU membership among the country's MPs. The only plauseble reason why the Foreign Minister is putting forward this claim must be an attempt to calm Brussels over the little support joining the EU has in Iceland.
Sources:
Aukinn stuðningur við aðild (Mbl.is July 23, 2010)
Afstaða VG til ESB óbreytt (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Skynjar ekki aukinn stuðning (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Össur að tala til Brussel (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
Ummæli Össurar koma á óvart (Mbl.is July 24, 2010)
7/04/2010
New poll: Continued 60 percent against EU membership
According to a new public opinion poll in Iceland produced by Capacent 60 percent oppose joining the European Union while only 26 percent are in favour. The rest is undecided. This is in line with repeated previous polls.
Taking only into the picture those in favour or opposed to EU membership about 70 percent of Icelanders are opposed to joining the bloc.
Source:
Viðhorf til Evrópusambandsaðildar Íslands (Capacent.is July 6, 2010)
Aðeins fjórðungur vill í ESB (Mbl.is July 1, 2010)
Mikil andstaða við aðild að ESB (Rúv.is July 1, 2010)
Taking only into the picture those in favour or opposed to EU membership about 70 percent of Icelanders are opposed to joining the bloc.
Source:
Viðhorf til Evrópusambandsaðildar Íslands (Capacent.is July 6, 2010)
Aðeins fjórðungur vill í ESB (Mbl.is July 1, 2010)
Mikil andstaða við aðild að ESB (Rúv.is July 1, 2010)
6/29/2010
The Independence Party demands EU application withdrawal
During its national congress last weekend the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) stressed its previous policy that the interests of Iceland were best secured outside the European Union. Furthermore the national congress demanded that the ongoing application for EU membership would be withdrawn immediately.
The same weekend the government's junior coalition partner, the Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) stressed its opposition to joining the EU at its party council congress and furthermore agreed that the EU accession process would be reviewed. A decision whether the party will support a withdrawal of the EU application was postponed until next autumn.
The same weekend the government's junior coalition partner, the Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) stressed its opposition to joining the EU at its party council congress and furthermore agreed that the EU accession process would be reviewed. A decision whether the party will support a withdrawal of the EU application was postponed until next autumn.
6/15/2010
Icelanders want EU application scrapped
New public opinion poll was published yesterday showing a large majority of Icelanders in favour of scrapping the ongoing application for membership of the European Union. According to the poll 57.6 percent want the application withdrawn while only 24.3 percent want to proceed with it. If only those in favour or opposed are looked at 70 percent want the application withdrawn entirely.
This is the same percentage that would vote no to EU membership in a referendum according to polls (Iceland will not join the EU unless first accepted in a referendum).
A proposal to a resolution has been put forward in the Icelandic parliament to withdraw the EU application backed by MPs from all the political parties represented in the parliament except one, the social democrats.
Sources:
Iceland to Win EU Backing to Start Talks, Draft Says (Bloomberg.com June 14, 2010)
Meirihluti vill draga umsókn um aðild til baka (Mbl.is June 14, 2010)
Tæp 60% vilja draga aðildarumsókn að ESB til baka (Vísir.is June 14, 2010)
Flestir vilja afturkalla ESB umsókn (Ruv.is June 14,2010)
This is the same percentage that would vote no to EU membership in a referendum according to polls (Iceland will not join the EU unless first accepted in a referendum).
A proposal to a resolution has been put forward in the Icelandic parliament to withdraw the EU application backed by MPs from all the political parties represented in the parliament except one, the social democrats.
Sources:
Iceland to Win EU Backing to Start Talks, Draft Says (Bloomberg.com June 14, 2010)
Meirihluti vill draga umsókn um aðild til baka (Mbl.is June 14, 2010)
Tæp 60% vilja draga aðildarumsókn að ESB til baka (Vísir.is June 14, 2010)
Flestir vilja afturkalla ESB umsókn (Ruv.is June 14,2010)
6/12/2010
MPs want EU application withdrawn
A proposal for a resolution will be put forward on Althingi, the Icelandic parliament, this weekend that the application for membership of the European Union should be withdrawn. It is initiated by Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir, MP for the conservative Independence Party, and supported by a large group of MPs from various political parties represented in the parliament.
The Icelandic parliament narrowly accepted the EU application in July 2009. Some 33 MPs supported the application while 28 voted against it. Two MPs abstained. However, there is no majority for EU membership in the Icelandic parliament and has never been.
Many of the socialist MPs that voted in favour of the application were - and still are - against membership of the EU. But they supported the application to be able to form the current government with the pro-EU social democrats, the only pro-EU party in Iceland.
However, due to a extremely busy schedule of the parliament (dozens of large issues are on its schedule before its recession for the summer on next Tuesday and only few are bound to be addressed in time) it is not certain if the proposal will be voted on this time.
According to the latest public opinion poll in March this year 70 percent of Icelanders would vote against EU membership. An internet poll in May by the Icelandic radio station Bylgjan resulted in 75 percent saying the EU application should be withdrawn.
Source:
Umsókn um aðild að Evrópusambandinu verði dregin til baka (Mbl.is June 12, 2010)
The Icelandic parliament narrowly accepted the EU application in July 2009. Some 33 MPs supported the application while 28 voted against it. Two MPs abstained. However, there is no majority for EU membership in the Icelandic parliament and has never been.
Many of the socialist MPs that voted in favour of the application were - and still are - against membership of the EU. But they supported the application to be able to form the current government with the pro-EU social democrats, the only pro-EU party in Iceland.
However, due to a extremely busy schedule of the parliament (dozens of large issues are on its schedule before its recession for the summer on next Tuesday and only few are bound to be addressed in time) it is not certain if the proposal will be voted on this time.
According to the latest public opinion poll in March this year 70 percent of Icelanders would vote against EU membership. An internet poll in May by the Icelandic radio station Bylgjan resulted in 75 percent saying the EU application should be withdrawn.
Source:
Umsókn um aðild að Evrópusambandinu verði dregin til baka (Mbl.is June 12, 2010)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)