Since the end of last year it has been repeatedly claimed in foreign media that Iceland has adopted at least two-thirds of all the legislation of the European Union through the country's membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). Among those who have said this is Olli Rehn, the EU's commissioner for enlargement, for example to the AFP news agency at the beginning of February.
Until a few years ago, certain Icelanders in favour of joining the European Union on a regular basis claimed the same, that Iceland was adopting 70 and even up to 90 percent of EU laws through the EEA agreement. This claim was repeatedly put forward without being founded on any studies at all.
In the spring of 2005 research carried out by the EFTA [European Free Trade Association] secretariat in Brussels at the request of the Icelandic foreign ministry, however, revealed that only 6.5 percent of all EU legislation was subjected to the EEA agreement between 1994 (when it came into force) and 2004.
In March 2007 a report published by a special committee on Europe commissioned by the Icelandic prime minister, showed that some 2,500 pieces of EU legislation had been adopted in Iceland during the first decade of the EEA agreement. The study also found that about 22 percent of Icelandic laws passed by the parliament originated from the EU during the same period of time.
The totality of EU legislation is according to various sources around 25,000 to 30,000 legal acts. Total Icelandic laws and regulations, however, are around 5,000. Of those there are less than 1,000 laws, the rest is regulations. Even if the entire legislation of Iceland came from the EU it would only be around 20 percent of the total acquis communautaire.
So how is it possible to reach the conclusion that Iceland has already adopted "at least two-thirds of European legislation"?
Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson
(Previously published on Euobserver.com)
7/23/2009
What have the polls been saying in Iceland?
Since the beginning of this year the results of most opinion polls in Iceland have been unfavourable for those who want the country to become a part of the European Union. However, it has become quite obvious that it depends which questions are being asked. Let us take a look at how the polls have behaved through the years including this one:
Polls asking if people wanted to start membership talks (aðildarviðræður) with the EU have almost always resulted in a majority in favour.
Polls asking if people wanted to apply for membership (umsókn um aðild) of the EU have almost always resulted in a majority against.
Polls asking if people wanted to join the EU have usually resulted in a 50/50 situation.
The first two examples obviously contradict each other. But this has an explanation. For years people in favour of EU membership have claimed it was possible to enter some kind of a non-obligational "scouting talks" with the EU just to find out what kind of a deal Iceland would be able to get.
Many people in Iceland find the EU issue very complicated so there has been much interest in these kinds of talks. But at the same time people are opposed to a formal application for EU membership. This explaines the contradicting results of polls asking about starting membership talks and applying for membership.
Those in favour of EU membership have always pointed to the polls asking for membership talks as a token of the alledged support in Iceland for applying for membership. But when everything is taken into the picture it must be assumed that there is simply no majority in Iceland for either applying for EU membership or joining the EU.
The Icelandic government, which is led by the only pro-EU political party in Iceland (The Social Democratic Alliance), opposed a proposal to put the application for EU membership to the people in a referendum. The obvious reason is because the government knew applying for membership would be rejected.
However, Icelanders will get a referendum on whether to actually join the EU or not when the accession talks are over.
Polls asking if people wanted to start membership talks (aðildarviðræður) with the EU have almost always resulted in a majority in favour.
Polls asking if people wanted to apply for membership (umsókn um aðild) of the EU have almost always resulted in a majority against.
Polls asking if people wanted to join the EU have usually resulted in a 50/50 situation.
The first two examples obviously contradict each other. But this has an explanation. For years people in favour of EU membership have claimed it was possible to enter some kind of a non-obligational "scouting talks" with the EU just to find out what kind of a deal Iceland would be able to get.
Many people in Iceland find the EU issue very complicated so there has been much interest in these kinds of talks. But at the same time people are opposed to a formal application for EU membership. This explaines the contradicting results of polls asking about starting membership talks and applying for membership.
Those in favour of EU membership have always pointed to the polls asking for membership talks as a token of the alledged support in Iceland for applying for membership. But when everything is taken into the picture it must be assumed that there is simply no majority in Iceland for either applying for EU membership or joining the EU.
The Icelandic government, which is led by the only pro-EU political party in Iceland (The Social Democratic Alliance), opposed a proposal to put the application for EU membership to the people in a referendum. The obvious reason is because the government knew applying for membership would be rejected.
However, Icelanders will get a referendum on whether to actually join the EU or not when the accession talks are over.
7/17/2009
Report: Icelandic government to apply for EU membership
Yesterday was a black day in Iceland when the Icelandic parliament narrowly voted in favour of a proposal allowing the government to apply for membership of the European Union. The vote was very close and the issue had been debated heavily for a number of days in the parliament. 33 MPs said yes, 28 said no, and two did not vote. A proposal from the opposition that the decision to apply would be a subject to a special referendum was rejected narrowly with 32 votes against 30. The government (backed by most of its MPs) opposed that proposal strongly which suggests it simply does not believe that the people are in favour of this step.
Five government MPs rejected the proposal, all from the junior coalition partner The Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) which is according to its policy strongly opposed to EU membership. Eight of the party's MPs voted in favour and one did not vote. Seven of these eight are nevertheless opposed to membership but voted in favour in order to secure a continued coalition government with the pro-EU Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin). A number of them gave a short speech in the parliament before voting where they claimed their strong oppostion to EU membership while drawing up a very negative picture of the union.
The voting in the parliament:
The Social Democratic Alliance (social democrats): Yes 20, No 0, Abstain 0.
The Independence Party (conservatives/liberals): Yes 1, No 14, Abstain 1.
The Left Green Movement (socialists/greens): Yes 8, No 5, Abstain 1.
The Progressive Party (centrists/agrarians): Yes 3, No 6, Abstain 0.
The Civilian Movement: Yes 1, No 3, Abstain 0.
Total: Yes 33, No 28, Abstain 2.
Much of the debate prior to the vote, both in the parliament and among the people, were about the fact that the Left Greent Movement was according to its policy strongly opposed to EU membership which meant that it did not have any permission from its voters to take part in applying for EU membership. Last general elections in Iceland took place on April 25 this year. Many associations within the party from various parts of the country prior to the vote protested the party leadership's support along with many of the party's ordinary members and voters. Political speculators in Iceland have been suggesting this could lead to some serious internal problems within the party.
The government had to count on the support from few MPs in the oppostion to get its proposal through. One of the government minister even said no, the minister for agriculture and fisheries, who comes from the Left Green Movement. In addition the leader of the Left Green Movement said yesterday to the Icelandic media that his party assumed every right to stop the accession talks at any time if it believes the EU is not meeting its demands. According to the government's proposal the Left Green Movement has also assumed the right to oppose a possible final accession treaty. Whether or not the party will actually do either this is yet another token of how half-heartedly it is on the issue to say the very least. This all simply means the government is very broken on this issue.
The government has already as of this morning formally announced the application to both the Swedish EU Presidency and the European Commission. The formal application is expected to be put forward at the meeting of EU foreign ministers on July 27. Accession talks are expected to begin in February 2010 given the application will be accepted and a possible date of accession according to the government is January 1, 2013 which means a referendum could take place in 2012. However, this whole process could take place sooner depending on the speed and progress of the accession talks.
The last opinion poll in Iceland by Gallup showed a 50/50 situation regarding the question whether people wanted to join the EU or not.
Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson
Five government MPs rejected the proposal, all from the junior coalition partner The Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) which is according to its policy strongly opposed to EU membership. Eight of the party's MPs voted in favour and one did not vote. Seven of these eight are nevertheless opposed to membership but voted in favour in order to secure a continued coalition government with the pro-EU Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin). A number of them gave a short speech in the parliament before voting where they claimed their strong oppostion to EU membership while drawing up a very negative picture of the union.
The voting in the parliament:
The Social Democratic Alliance (social democrats): Yes 20, No 0, Abstain 0.
The Independence Party (conservatives/liberals): Yes 1, No 14, Abstain 1.
The Left Green Movement (socialists/greens): Yes 8, No 5, Abstain 1.
The Progressive Party (centrists/agrarians): Yes 3, No 6, Abstain 0.
The Civilian Movement: Yes 1, No 3, Abstain 0.
Total: Yes 33, No 28, Abstain 2.
Much of the debate prior to the vote, both in the parliament and among the people, were about the fact that the Left Greent Movement was according to its policy strongly opposed to EU membership which meant that it did not have any permission from its voters to take part in applying for EU membership. Last general elections in Iceland took place on April 25 this year. Many associations within the party from various parts of the country prior to the vote protested the party leadership's support along with many of the party's ordinary members and voters. Political speculators in Iceland have been suggesting this could lead to some serious internal problems within the party.
The government had to count on the support from few MPs in the oppostion to get its proposal through. One of the government minister even said no, the minister for agriculture and fisheries, who comes from the Left Green Movement. In addition the leader of the Left Green Movement said yesterday to the Icelandic media that his party assumed every right to stop the accession talks at any time if it believes the EU is not meeting its demands. According to the government's proposal the Left Green Movement has also assumed the right to oppose a possible final accession treaty. Whether or not the party will actually do either this is yet another token of how half-heartedly it is on the issue to say the very least. This all simply means the government is very broken on this issue.
The government has already as of this morning formally announced the application to both the Swedish EU Presidency and the European Commission. The formal application is expected to be put forward at the meeting of EU foreign ministers on July 27. Accession talks are expected to begin in February 2010 given the application will be accepted and a possible date of accession according to the government is January 1, 2013 which means a referendum could take place in 2012. However, this whole process could take place sooner depending on the speed and progress of the accession talks.
The last opinion poll in Iceland by Gallup showed a 50/50 situation regarding the question whether people wanted to join the EU or not.
Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson
6/22/2009
EU membership would not have saved Iceland
Iceland's former Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, said in a lecture at the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin, Ireland, that he did not believe membership of the European Union would have saved Iceland from the "financial hurricane" which triggered the country's financial meltdown last autumn and the collapse of its three biggest banks, noting EU membership had not saved Latvia's economy from shrinking an expected 18 percent this year. Furthermore he pointed out that the Irish economy was expected to shrink between 10.75 and 12 percent this year while the expected percentage in the case of Iceland was 10 percent.
Sources:
Haarde in Dublin: Ireland worse than Iceland (Icenews.is June 22, 2009)
Irish GDP will shrink faster than Iceland's, says ex-PM (Independent.ie June 19, 2009)
6/02/2009
EU membership talks considered a low priority
Entering membership negotiations with the European Union is not considered urgent by Icelanders according to the results of a new poll by Capacent Gallup for Heimssýn, the Icelandic No movement. Majority of those who take a stand believes that the government should make such negotiations either a low priority or a very low priority.
Only 42 percent believe it urgent to enter membership negotiations with the EU with only 22 percent seeing that as a high priority. On the other hand 44 percent think it should be a little or very little priority to start such negotiations with 32 percent claiming the latter.
At the same time an overwhelming majority says it is more important to solve the financial problems of Icelandic households, or 95 percent, and Icelandic companies, 92 percent.
The poll was carried out May 20-27 and 1284 people were polled.
Only 42 percent believe it urgent to enter membership negotiations with the EU with only 22 percent seeing that as a high priority. On the other hand 44 percent think it should be a little or very little priority to start such negotiations with 32 percent claiming the latter.
At the same time an overwhelming majority says it is more important to solve the financial problems of Icelandic households, or 95 percent, and Icelandic companies, 92 percent.
The poll was carried out May 20-27 and 1284 people were polled.
5/27/2009
A rather peculiar situation in Iceland
The new center-left government in Iceland, formed by the Left Green Movement and the Social Democratic Alliance, has come under heavy criticism for opening up the EU issue half-heartedly. The proposal to apply for EU membership, that has now been put to the parliament, has also been much criticised for being a very badly performed work. Not the least by the Progressive Party whom the pro-EU social democrats have counted on to get the proposal through since they cannot count on the MPs of the traditionally eurosceptic Left Green Movement for support. A number of Left Green Movement MPs have already announced publicly that they will not back the proposal which means the social democrats will need all the support they can get from the opposition.
On top of all this both the government parties claim the right to fight against a possible membership agreement according to the proposal. So this whole issue is quite peculiar to say the least and based on very fragile foundations. The social democrats are hoping to send an application to Brussels before July this summer but that may easily turn out to be very optimistic. The issue will most certainly be debated heavily in the coming weeks both in the parliament and outside it. That debate could quite easily take a very long time. On top of that it is far from being certain that the parliament will eventually vote in favour of the proposal whenever the voting will take place.
On top of all this both the government parties claim the right to fight against a possible membership agreement according to the proposal. So this whole issue is quite peculiar to say the least and based on very fragile foundations. The social democrats are hoping to send an application to Brussels before July this summer but that may easily turn out to be very optimistic. The issue will most certainly be debated heavily in the coming weeks both in the parliament and outside it. That debate could quite easily take a very long time. On top of that it is far from being certain that the parliament will eventually vote in favour of the proposal whenever the voting will take place.
5/11/2009
New government to propose membership talks with the EU
The new center-left government of Iceland has agreed that the foreign minister will put a proposal to the parliament after it rejoines on May 15 that an application for membership of the European Union will be sent to Brussels this summer. Before July according to the government's plans. The government, however, is completely split on the issue with the Social Democratic Alliance strongly in favour of membership but the junion colatition partner, the Left Green Movement, opposing the idea. Whether the parliament will accept the proposal is unclear.
5/07/2009
New EU poll in Iceland
The results of a new poll on the attitute of Icelanders towards membership of the European Union were presented yesterday evening. The poll was produced by Capacent Gallup for the state television RÚV and showed 61 percent in favour of starting membership talks with the EU and 27 percent against. However, according to the poll Icelanders are split evenly in their attitute towards EU membership itself with 39 percent both in favour and against.
Majority of the voters of all the political parties represented in the Icelandic parliament except for the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) are in favour of membership talks with the EU. At the same time majority of the voters of all the political parties except the Social Demcratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) are opposed to membership as such.
There has been a debate in Iceland since yesterday that it obviously depends which question is being asked. Polls where people have been asked if they supported starting membership talks with the EU have usually showed majority in favour of that. However, polls asking if people wish to apply for EU membership have showed majority against doing that, like polls this year for the Icelandic daily Fréttablaðið.
If Iceland would decide to start membership talks with the EU it would first have to apply for EU membership. That is the first step. But it seems many people in Iceland don't realise this and think that it is possible to just start talks with the EU to see what is in the package, to get to the bottom of the issue once and for all as some have phrased it, without any commitments. Of course this is not the case.
Source:
Mikill meirihluti vill viðræður (Rúv.is 06/05/09)
Majority of the voters of all the political parties represented in the Icelandic parliament except for the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) are in favour of membership talks with the EU. At the same time majority of the voters of all the political parties except the Social Demcratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) are opposed to membership as such.
There has been a debate in Iceland since yesterday that it obviously depends which question is being asked. Polls where people have been asked if they supported starting membership talks with the EU have usually showed majority in favour of that. However, polls asking if people wish to apply for EU membership have showed majority against doing that, like polls this year for the Icelandic daily Fréttablaðið.
If Iceland would decide to start membership talks with the EU it would first have to apply for EU membership. That is the first step. But it seems many people in Iceland don't realise this and think that it is possible to just start talks with the EU to see what is in the package, to get to the bottom of the issue once and for all as some have phrased it, without any commitments. Of course this is not the case.
Source:
Mikill meirihluti vill viðræður (Rúv.is 06/05/09)
4/30/2009
The Citizen's Movement says the EU issue is not a priority
The Citizen's Movement (Borgarahreyfingin), which got four seats in the Icelandic parliament in the general elections that took place on last Saturday, has announced that whether or not Iceland should join the European Union is not a priority issue. Urgent issues regarding aid for Icelandic homes and companies as a result of the economic situation however are.
The Citizen's Movement emerged from the protests in Reykjavík last winter. In the same announcement it stresses that those protests had nothing to do with the EU but the collapse of the Icelandic bank sector and lack of actions from the authorities. This is seen as quite important news in Iceland since the Citizen's Movement has been described in foreign as well as some domestic media as being in favour of EU membership.
Meanwhile the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) and the Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) are still negotiating a new government and according to latest news it may even take another week to get results. The EU issue is by far the toughest matter to discuss according to the Icelandic media but the two parties have entirely different approach to the question whether Iceland should join the EU or not.
Source:
Lýsa áhyggjum af foringjastjórnmálum (Mbl.is 30/04/09)
Býst við viku í viðbót í viðræður (Rúv.is 30/04/09)
Related:
The results of the Icelandic general elections
No pro-EU protests in Iceland
The Citizen's Movement emerged from the protests in Reykjavík last winter. In the same announcement it stresses that those protests had nothing to do with the EU but the collapse of the Icelandic bank sector and lack of actions from the authorities. This is seen as quite important news in Iceland since the Citizen's Movement has been described in foreign as well as some domestic media as being in favour of EU membership.
Meanwhile the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) and the Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) are still negotiating a new government and according to latest news it may even take another week to get results. The EU issue is by far the toughest matter to discuss according to the Icelandic media but the two parties have entirely different approach to the question whether Iceland should join the EU or not.
Source:
Lýsa áhyggjum af foringjastjórnmálum (Mbl.is 30/04/09)
Býst við viku í viðbót í viðræður (Rúv.is 30/04/09)
Related:
The results of the Icelandic general elections
No pro-EU protests in Iceland
4/26/2009
Report: The results of the Icelandic general elections
by Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson
The results of the general elections in Iceland yesterday are not a success for those who want the country to become a member of the European Union. At least not the success they were hoping for. The only party that has the policy of joining the EU and put emphasis on that in the election campaign, the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin), got 30 percent of the votes (20 MPs) which is similar to what the party has got in previous elections. In 1999 it got 27 percent, in 2003 31 percent and in 2007 again 27 percent. In other words the results are at best a defending victory for the party.
The results of the general elections in Iceland yesterday are not a success for those who want the country to become a member of the European Union. At least not the success they were hoping for. The only party that has the policy of joining the EU and put emphasis on that in the election campaign, the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin), got 30 percent of the votes (20 MPs) which is similar to what the party has got in previous elections. In 1999 it got 27 percent, in 2003 31 percent and in 2007 again 27 percent. In other words the results are at best a defending victory for the party.
The Social Democratic Alliance can form a government with majority in the parliament with both the Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) (34 MPs) or the Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn) together with the Citizen's Movement (Borgarahreyfingin) (33 MPs) apart from the possibility to form a renewed government with the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) (36 MPs) which will probabaly not happen due to the current unpopularity of that party. But both the other forms of government are, however, very likely to mean tough and difficult talks for the social democrats.
The party increasing its votes the most is the Left Green Movement as was expected. It got 21.5 percent and 14 MPs compared with 14 percent in 2007. The party rejects EU membership. The conservative Independence Party, which also is opposed to EU membership but has been mainly blamed for last year's collapse of most of the Icelandic banking sector, got 24 percent and 16 MPs. The two parties that thus reject joining the EU the most got together 45.5 percent and 30 of the the total 63 seats in the parliament compared with the Social Democratic Alliance's 20.
The remaining 13 seats are spread between the Progressive Party and the Citizen's Movement. The former got 9 seats and the latter 4. Neither of them is in favour of EU membership but the Progressive Party favours membership negotiations according to its platform if certain very strict conditions will be met, one of them being that Iceland will hold full authority over Icelandic fishing grounds. Something the EU will understandably never be able to accept. As a result the party is generally not seen as being in favour of EU membership.
The Citizen's Movement, however, has no policy in favour of joining the EU. It has a policy that all agreements with other countries that involve transfer of sovereignty shall be put to a referendum and also that Iceland should seek to negotiate monetary cooperation with other countries or, if necessary, adopt a foreign currency unilaterally. One of the party's major policies is also that of not signing any agreement concerning the so-called Icesave issue before a research by independent experts has been carried out on what the duties of the Icelandic government are regarding that.
The Citizen's Movement emerged from the protests in Reykjavík last winter and its platform has many radical policies that the Social Democratic Alliance could find very hard to agree on. The biggest demand of the people protesting was increased direct democracy (referendums) and that the people should be more involved in the decision making process in the country. Naturally joining the EU would not be a step in that direction but rather further away.
The party increasing its votes the most is the Left Green Movement as was expected. It got 21.5 percent and 14 MPs compared with 14 percent in 2007. The party rejects EU membership. The conservative Independence Party, which also is opposed to EU membership but has been mainly blamed for last year's collapse of most of the Icelandic banking sector, got 24 percent and 16 MPs. The two parties that thus reject joining the EU the most got together 45.5 percent and 30 of the the total 63 seats in the parliament compared with the Social Democratic Alliance's 20.
The remaining 13 seats are spread between the Progressive Party and the Citizen's Movement. The former got 9 seats and the latter 4. Neither of them is in favour of EU membership but the Progressive Party favours membership negotiations according to its platform if certain very strict conditions will be met, one of them being that Iceland will hold full authority over Icelandic fishing grounds. Something the EU will understandably never be able to accept. As a result the party is generally not seen as being in favour of EU membership.
The Citizen's Movement, however, has no policy in favour of joining the EU. It has a policy that all agreements with other countries that involve transfer of sovereignty shall be put to a referendum and also that Iceland should seek to negotiate monetary cooperation with other countries or, if necessary, adopt a foreign currency unilaterally. One of the party's major policies is also that of not signing any agreement concerning the so-called Icesave issue before a research by independent experts has been carried out on what the duties of the Icelandic government are regarding that.
The Citizen's Movement emerged from the protests in Reykjavík last winter and its platform has many radical policies that the Social Democratic Alliance could find very hard to agree on. The biggest demand of the people protesting was increased direct democracy (referendums) and that the people should be more involved in the decision making process in the country. Naturally joining the EU would not be a step in that direction but rather further away.
What kind of a government will take power in Iceland after the elections is expected to become clear in the next few days and also how that government will approach the EU issue. The most likely coalition is between the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left Green Movement.
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