Talk:Iceland–European Union relations

Anti-EU poster

Here's some anti-EU art made by an Icelandic blogger: [1] Haukur 22:22, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Interesting source regarding Iceland and EU membership

[2] its about Iceland quickly joining the EU if requested and that 70% want a referendum regarding the EU and that 49% would vote yes while the other 51% are unsure or against. I thought we could include it. Ijanderson (talk) 00:14, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Recent opinion polls

There have been a lot of polls for the last few years and when comparing them it's important to be clear on what exactly the question is and how the undecided are handled. For example Samtök iðnaðarins have been regularly polling these issues since 2004. They ask three questions:

1. "Are you for or against initiating membership discussions with the EU?"
2. "Are you for or against Icelandic membership in the EU?"
3. "Are you for or against the euro becoming the currency of Iceland instead of the króna?"

Now, the difference between the first two questions is interesting - there are usually a number of people in favor of membership discussions without being, at this point, in favor of membership. The responses to the second question have been like this:

	Feb 2003	Feb 2004	Aug 2004	Feb 2005	Aug 2005	Feb 2006	Aug 2006	Feb 2007	Aug 2007	Jan 2008	Feb 2008	May 2008	June 2008	July 2008
For    	35,80%	42,80%	42,20%	45,40%	43,10%	40,50%	45,70%	42,70%	47,90%	44,10%	43,30%	50,20%	51,60%	51,50%
Against	48,10%	40,80%	37,10%	33,80%	37,20%	37,90%	33,20%	33,90%	33,10%	34,20%	35,10%	25,80%	26,50%	24,90%
Neither 16,10%	16,40%	20,70%	20,80%	19,80%	21,50%	21,00%	23,30%	19,00%	21,70%	21,60%	24,00%	21,90%	23,70%

[3]

Now, you can present this as "51.5% in favor of EU membership in July 2008" or you can throw out the undecided/neutral and say "67.4% in favor of EU membership in July 2008" but you have to make clear which of the two you're doing. The July 2008 numbers for the first question are 20.3 - 18.8 - 60.9 so you can present those as "60.9 in favor of membership discussions with the EU" or as "75.0% in favor of membership discussions with the EU". Now, the recent Fréttablaðið poll apparently asked "Do you want Iceland to apply for EU membership?" and it threw out the undecided, getting a result of 68.8% in favor and 31.3% against.[4] This question amounts to the same thing as SI question 1 (though not everyone polled may realize this) so the numbers aren't particularly new or stunning. Haukur (talk) 15:15, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

		August 2007	Jun/Jul 2008	Change
Discussion	Yes	58.6%	60.6%	+2.0%
	No	26.4%	20.3%	–6.3%
	Don't know	15.1%	18.8%	+3.7%
Membership	Yes	47.9%	51.5%	+3.6%
	No	33.1%	24.9%	–8.2%
	Don't know	19.0%	23.7%	+4.7%

Or you can take a much simpler view. For a start, let's remember that the Gallup report you cite is from June/July 2008, ie before the current financial crisis but after the smaller run on the króna in March 2008. Then let's take annual changes in opinion on the first two questions (the third now being currently irrelevant). The figures are in the table: there is a sharp decrease in opposition to the European Union, with a smaller (but significant) increase in support, the remainder being taken up by a greater number of "don't know"s. Physchim62 (talk) 21:11, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Now we're getting somewhere. Yes, there's a noticeable spike in support for the euro and the EU between the February poll and the April poll. But we don't have any proof of a post-collapse spike. A larger point is that there's been very large support for a membership application as far back as these polls go. Even the oldest poll there, from early 2004, shows huge support for that - approximately as much as the most recent poll shows. The euro question is fairly obviously correlated with how strong the króna is at any given time. Haukur (talk) 21:29, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I should be more clear since I'm complaining that other people aren't. By membership application I mean the same as membership discussions. Haukur (talk) 21:33, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I think that taking "applications = discussions" is fair enough for Iceland, where the two Norwegian applications are presumably well known. However, I still don't think you're still not counting like with like. Fréttablaðið found only 55.1% support for application in February 2008, while Gallup found 63.6% support for discussion in January 2008 (discounting don't knows). The Fréttablaðið sample is smaller than the Gallup sample, but 55.1% → 68.8% is still highly significant, even if if confounds the effects of the current crisis with those of the "mini-crisis" in March. Physchim62 (talk) 22:55, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

It's really hard to compare like with like because I think even a small change in wording can produce a large effect. There are a lot of people who will say "no" or "not sure" if they're asked whether Iceland should become a part of the EU but will say "yes" to some permutations of the "should we apply?" question. More people will say "yes" if you include "to see what kind of deal we could get" or something to that effect. Also worth noting is that the people who commission polls on this question usually have a firm opinion on the question themselves. Samtök iðnaðarins have been lobbying for EU-membership for a long time and the editor-in-chief of Fréttablaðið is strongly pro-EU. Even though they commission prestigious companies to do the polls they can still pick the question and the timing and have a lot of control over the resulting spin. Off-hand I can't find a recent poll commissioned by an anti-EU group. One in 2002 found a majority against.[5]

As I said before, I think there is convincing evidence for a significant pro-EU bump in March but nothing definite on the effects of the recent collapse. Even the Fréttablaðið poll was probably conducted too early. We need a new poll

It is possible that the Icesave affair will have some anti-EU effect. The EU put up a unified front to stop the IMF loan to Iceland unless the Icelandic government agreed to assume responsibility for the depositor insurance. EU-opponents are trying to get some mileage out of that. Also note that the British are not very popular here at the moment and EU-opponents are playing up the importance of the UK within the EU. Haukur (talk) 09:20, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

The October poll by Samtök iðnaðarins is here.[6] The results for question two are similar to those from the May, June and July polls. There's a clear pro-euro bump and a slight pro-application bump compared with the summer polls (the September poll looks like a fluke to me). Haukur (talk) 17:24, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it seems that here's been both a slight hardening of opposition to the EU (especially strong opposition) and a larger jump in support for EU application (not necessarily membership). I agree that the September results seem unusual, so I'm taking June/July for the comparison point. The question of adopting the euro is surely irrelevant: I know one or two economists still propose it, but it's not going to happen officially for many years and it would be too expensive (now) to do it unilaterally. Physchim62 (talk) 18:33, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Agreed on all counts. I don't even know how I would answer if a pollster asked me if I wanted to adopt the euro. Mu? --Haukur (talk) 18:54, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

State media reports that a new poll by Samtök iðnaðarins shows pro-EU sentiment down to 47%. Weirdly, it doesn't appear to be up on the SI website yet.[7] Haukur (talk) 21:42, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

PDF is here now.[8] Support for EU-membership down, support for EU-application up and support for the euro up. Haukur (talk) 10:47, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

mbl.is is reporting that the most recent SI/Gallup poll shows a further drop in support for EU-membership.[9] Now there are 37.7% in favor of EU-membership and 38.3% against. Haukur (talk) 08:42, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Detailed results out.[10] Quite a strong drop in pro-EU sentiment. Haukur (talk) 18:17, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

A Fréttablaðið poll today seems to confirm that there is a growing anti-EU sentiment with 60% against application. Positions have been completely reversed since October. I have noticed in the public discourse that hardly anyone is still championing EU membership as a one-stop solution for all of the nation's problems. Farms and fish matter more now. --Bjarki S, 08:36, 26 January 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.105.255.161 (talk)

New Fréttablaðið poll

Support for a EU application declines by 8 percentage points since last month.[11] Looks like the battle lines are becoming clearer, with a stronger majority of Progressive Party voters going for the EU and now a minority of Independence and Left Green voters. Haukur (talk) 08:43, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Fréttablaðið polls

October poll[12]

• 80,0 Took a position. Of those there were:
• 68,8 Pro-application
• 31,3 Anti-application

Another way to present the same data:

• 55,0% Pro-application
• 25,0% Anti-application
• 20,0% Did not take a position

November poll[13]

• 77,6% Took a position. Of those there were:
• 59,6% Pro-application
• 40,4% Anti-application

Another way to present the same data:

• 46,2% Pro-application
• 31,4% Anti-application
• 22,4% Did not take a position

Analysis

Clearly, there's been a significant drop in support for a EU-application. I think the most likely explanation is how the Icesave affair worked out. Fréttablaðið, pro-EU rag that it is, headlined their poll today with "Seventy percent want the euro". In reality, this is much the less relevant question, the actual number was 68% (after throwing out the undecided) and even this number has declined from the last poll. Haukur (talk) 10:19, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

That's a fairly clear drop in support between the two polls, and undoubtedly the rabid reaction of certain Icelandic politicians to the Icesave dispute has something to do with it (compare with Geir Haarde's initial response here). Only history will tell where the Dolchstoß really came from! The dispute is still not over, because the payment schedule has yet to be agreed, but the amount of the loan is very generous, far in excess of what is needed to cover Icesave liabilities (and particularly in the case of Germany's contribution). Physchim62 (talk) 14:17, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

About the recent deletes of sources pointing to Bloomberg and EUObserver. Can I suggest not to remove it, since it is (or it was) the truth? We can always reword the article, or put it in past tense (aka no longer viable or will no longer happen) but removing the content of very recent reliable sources should not be the solution. What do you guys think? Miguel.mateo (talk) 15:17, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

It was never the truth. The foreign ministry explicitly said at the time that the EUObserver was just wrong. See here: [14] Haukur (talk) 15:30, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Any other source? This I can not read it ... Miguel.mateo (talk) 15:50, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Here's a quick translation, then. Haukur (talk) 16:06, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

"I have seen no files, memos or working documents where dates are discussed in a connection with a membership application to the EU. The EUobserver news to that effect is simply wrong. There is no draft for an EU membership application here in the ministry," says Urður Gunnarsdóttir, press secretary of the foreign ministry.

On the news website EUobserver this morning there was a report that the foreign ministry had already laid plans for an EU membership application at the beginning of next year. The website referred to the reporting of Financial Times and said that the goal was for Iceland to join the EU in 2011. The EUobserver website also reported on the formation of the European committee of the Independence Party before the weekend and the hastening of the party's general congress. It also says that Icelanders have always been against EU-membership but that following the banking collapse the views of the nation have changed. Now approximately 70% of the people would support a membership application instead of 50% before.

Urður Gunnarssdóttir says that it is obvious that the foreign journalist has misread the formation of the European committee of the Independence Party and drawn wrong conclusion from it.

"There is a memo dating back to October where the membership application process is described. It was based on other countries who have joined the EU or are in the application process. The memo has legal explanations on things like the judicial status of the applicant and what groups of issues would need to be negotiated. This memo does not contain anything which hasn't appeared publicly before and no dates are mentioned," says Urður Gunnarsdóttir.

BTW, what is wrong with the Bloomberg source? Why was that one removed? Miguel.mateo (talk) 16:04, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Because the idea that "Opinions have drastically swayed throughout Iceland to positively favour EU membership" has been thoroughly debunked on this talk page. The polls show no movement towards pro-EU membership sentiment since the October collapse. Haukur (talk) 16:07, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

It hardly seems surprising that Iceland's diplomats know how to apply for EU membership should they get the Green Light from Reykjavík: it would be amazing incompetence if that were not the case, given the length of time the debate has been going on as well the parallel debate over euro adoption! Olli Rehn's comments seem to indicate that the plan has been discussed unofficially, but what is lacking is any political drive, either from the government or from the downtrodden masses. There seem to be three prerequisites for EU membership:

1. a government that wants to join;
2. an electorate that is not excessively opposed;
3. conditions which both sides can agree to.

Condition (1) is the one that is notably missing for the moment, whatever backup plans might exist in Reykjavík cupboards! Physchim62 (talk) 17:29, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I honestly believe that we will have to wait and see, I will not be surprised of any outcome. I do have a guts feeling that 2009-2010 will change the Eurozone pipeline drastically. Miguel.mateo (talk) 00:58, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Recent removal of EUObserver source

Hi there,

I do want to bring this topic to life again. The EUObserver is one of the most trusted sources of information in all of Europe, on a level with Reuters and AP. That an Icelandic FM press secretary is denying the rumors and not a more senior level department may lend itself to the story's authenticity. Don't you think?

Thanks, Miguel.mateo (talk) 15:00, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

The EUObserver just cites the FT on this, it's clear that they have no independent source. The FT says that "officials at the ministry of foreign affairs are understood already to have drawn up a preliminary plan that envisages an application early next year and eventual entry in 2011". Understood? Understood by whom? This is about officials at the FM so it seems very natural that officials at the FM are the ones denying it. Do you think the FT has uncovered some sort of secret plan? In any case, this is pretty insignificant and uninteresting - there's no secret way to join the EU. The current government has a clear policy that it will not join the EU. The earliest time this could possibly change is following the IP congress in late January. The foreign minister, of course, does want to join the EU and that is no secret. Haukur (talk) 15:28, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I do not think there is any secret plan, since that would make no sense. What I am thinking is that the removal of the EUObserver comment from this article, based on that the FM denied it in another newspaper, is wrong. Note that the comment was not changed to "Some sources said that Iceland is ready to join while other deny the fact" or something similar; the comment was completely removed. The article as it is now has almost no difference compared to one year ago before all of this happens.

BTW, I was under the impression that is the FM office the one against the Eurozone membership, I might be incorrect though.

Thanks, Miguel.mateo (talk) 02:19, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The FM is from the Samfylking, a party which is openly supportive of applying for EU membership as soon as possible, they have been for many years, it's been in their platform for a long time, their ideological predecessor party had the same policy. Haukur (talk) 11:27, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

And they support adapting the euro as well, that almost goes without saying - the euro is the biggest selling point. Haukur (talk) 11:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

OK, now is BBC saying that there are plans: BBC says that Iceland 'could apply to EU soon'. Can we please re-consider the inclusion in the article that there are movements in Iceland to join the Eurozone? Miguel.mateo (talk) 08:55, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

This is better than the FT article and also more vacuous. What specific piece of information from that article do you want to include? This is still pretty misleading:

Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde has said that his country could start talks on joining the EU, under the right circumstances. He has set up a commission to consider the possibility of EU membership.

He hasn't set up a commission as a prime minister, he has set up a commission as a chairman of a political party.

The central point which none of the foreign articles really get at is that the economic crisis has moved public sentiment on the EU very little if at all BUT it does seem to have moved sentiment among politicians somewhat. Whether that movement really takes will not be clear until the end of January. Haukur (talk) 10:49, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

I think that we are in agreement, and I have just read the current article completely. There are considerable changes to explain the changes in the feelings towards the EU. However, the article as a whole, is still a bit "against the EU". If readers do not mind, when a news like this one hits my desk I will bring it over for analisys, we can decide if it is time to drastically change the article or not. In the mean time, I can not agree with you more, we will have to wait to January 2009. Miguel.mateo (talk) 12:32, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Iceland EU relations

There are big changes in relations between Iceland and EU. If the Social Democratic Alliance wins the election on the 25th of April 2009, they are going to push for EU membership in the next government. If that happens (witch is the most likely outcome), EU application can happen early as May or June, so Sweden can handle it when they hold EU presidency.

Two web pages have sprung up in relations to the EU debate in Iceland. One Pro-EU and one Anti-EU. The pro-EU web page is at http://www.sammala.is (Icelandic), the anti-EU web page is at http://www.osammala.is (Icelandic). One is calling for EU application (sammala.is), the other isn't (osammala.is). This web pages are collecting signatures both wanting and opposing EU membership bid.

The Pro-EU group membership web page can be found at http://www.evropa.is (Icelandic). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonfr (talk • contribs) 18:02, 23 April 2009 (UTC) Jonfr (talk) 00:41, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

The Social Democratic Alliance has won, by a majority of 4 seats. So far, the prime minister is pushing to initate EU accession and a draft application is currently being filled out. —Terrence and Phillip 06:35, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

Not so. A coalition of SDA and the eurosceptic Left-Green Movement has won a majority of 4 seats together. The parties don't agree on the EU and are currently negotiating about how to proceed. --Bjarki (talk) 21:23, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

I beg to differ. See here and here. With the SDA in power, the chances of Iceland joining the EU is substantionally higher. Additionally, the Progressive Party and the Citizens' Movement both support Iceland's EU accession. So if you do the math, 33 out of 63 votes in the Icelandic parliament would have a yes on EU accession. Also the prime minister has explicitly stated her intent to join the EU and formally submit an application by June, keeping in time when the EU presidency rotates to Sweden in July. —Terrence and Phillip 21:57, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

That doesn't change the fact that the current government has the LGM aboard and they've said they will under no circumstances support a EU application this summer. The Alliance could form a centrist coalition with the Progressives and the new party but that seems less likely than the current goverment continuing after some compromise on the EU issue. Also worth noting is that the most recent opinion poll had a majority against applying for membership. Haukur (talk) 22:06, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

The Social Democratic Alliance has told the Media in Iceland that they are not backing away from the EU membership issue. Left-Green own policy doesn't prevent them from supporting EU membership application, even if part of there own MPs are opposing it. Social Democratic Alliance and Left-Green are currently working on the EU issue. According to the news on Ruv, no other issue are going to be put forward until this issue is solved. Jonfr (talk) 09:02, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

According to the news today. The government parties have agreed on the EU issue. This agreement states that the EU issue is going to be put into vote in the parlament. See also this news, http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=40764&ew_0_a_id=323619 Jonfr (talk) 12:53, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

Here is a Reuters news about Iceland Government step towards EU application.http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSL645551620090506 Jonfr (talk) 23:24, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

This artical has the anti-eu group web linked (Heimssýn), but there is no link to pro-eu web page. The pro-EU membership web page is http://www.evropa.is (Evrópusamtökin) Jonfr (talk) 13:23, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Rúv poll

Here is a new Rúv poll. It shows 61,2% of Icelandic people want EU membership talks, 26,9% oppose membership talks, 11,8% are neutral. This news also breaks down the EU membership talks after political lines. The Rúv poll also check people minds to a membership, there are 38,6% oppose membership to EU, 39% want EU membership, 22,4% are neutral.

Rúv poll.

http://www.ruv.is/heim/frettir/frett/store64/item263923/

Jonfr (talk) 21:43, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

SI Polls

SI (Samtök Iðnaðarins) have extensive polls in relation to EU opinions from the year 2000. There polls are good and cover a long time period. The polls can be viewed here, http://www.si.is/malaflokkar/althjodlegt-samstarf/evropumal/skodanakannanir/

Jonfr (talk) 22:08, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Note: Could be more useful if translated into English... —Terrence and Phillip 03:33, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

I am sorry. The first chart is if people approve membership talks with the EU. Blue line is those how approve of it, red are those how oppose it and gray line is neutral. Last poll on this web page is from February 2009, then 64,2% approved membership talks, 28,2% did oppose it and 7,6% where neutral. The second chart on the if people did want membership, the colors mean the same, that chart is from the same time period as the first one. The poll did go as following, 39,7% did approve of membership, 45,5% did oppose it and 14,8% where neutral. I am not good enough on the wiki format to put this up my self. I hope that some other Icelander can put this up properly.

Regards. Jonfr (talk) 13:18, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Iceland EU membership application

According to the news and blog web Eyjunni, Iceland is going to apply for EU membership in July after a parliament vote. Eyjan news source, http://eyjan.is/blog/2009/05/10/nyja-rikisstjornin-sott-verdur-um-adild-ad-evropusambandinu-i-juli-radherrar-10-en-verdur-sidar-faekkad-i-9/

The Guardian is also running the same story (or similar) on the same matter, that news source can be found here, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/10/iceland-eu-euro

Jonfr (talk) 15:19, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

IcelandReview has more detailed news on EU application, see here. The parliament resolution is going to be put forward early when the next parliament starts.

Jonfr (talk) 17:31, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Here is the Icelandic government press release. Here is more news on the Icelandic EU parliamentary vote, this is AFP news.

Jonfr (talk) 21:35, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Parliament still has to actually approve the resolution so the Alliance will somehow have to manoeuver the centrist parties into voting for it - or at least not voting against it. The LGM MPs will vote "according to their conscience", which presumably means that most of them will vote against it. This is all highly unusual - Icelandic governmental parties almost always vote as a block on almost all issues, let alone issues of such importance. Haukur (talk) 22:50, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

I do not believe that the Progressive Party is going to block it, or the Citizens' Movement, but that gives clear majority. I am not sure about how Left-Green Movement are going to vote on this issue, but they might vote against it, at least there is a good chance on it. However, I am sure that the Independence Party is going to vote against it. It is important to keep this article up to date, as the status of Iceland-EU relation might change soon. Jonfr (talk) 23:23, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

It might be unusual in Iceland, but it's nothing strange elsewhere to have members of the same government taking opposite sides when debating EU issues: see United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975 for a classic, although there was some of it in the Norwegian European Union membership referendum, 1994 and especially the French European Constitution referendum, 2005 as well. Physchim62 (talk) 23:34, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Putting a vote in the parliament would have a majority of "yes" votes for starting EU talks. The Social Democratic Alliance, the Progressive Party, and the Citizens' Movement are predictable enough that they will want to join the EU. The Left-Greens are so far divided on the EU issue, despite the official party statement opposing Iceland joining the EU. —Terrence and Phillip 23:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Ft.com has a news article on the possible Iceland EU accession talks, that news source can be found here. According to Fréttablaðið (11th May 2009) (pdf link) 5 party members of the Left-Green Movement are going to oppose the EU talk resolution, the opinions of others Left-Green Movement in parliament is unclear at the moment. Progressive Party is likely to agree to the resolution, as the government party (Social Democratic Alliance) are working with them and the Independence party on this resolution to guarantee that is passed trough the parliament, news on that can be found here (Rúv.is). Next session of the Parliament is on the 15th of May 2009. But Independence party are sure to vote against it or won't vote at all. Jonfr (talk) 18:55, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

I'm not so sure about the IP. Party discipline is at an all time low so some of the more pro-EU MPs may be tempted to jump the fence in order to be on the winning side if Iceland ends up joining. But we will find out soon enough. --Bjarki (talk) 20:00, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

According to Vísir.is, there is a possibility that some Left-Green Movement MPs might vote yes on the EU resolution. News about that is here. Jonfr (talk) 02:03, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

The parliament resolution has been made public. It can be found here and here (official press release). The resolution is as follows (my best English translation), "Parliament approves that government applies for EU membership and put the matter into public vote after negotiations possible membership.". In this resolution is also a short explanation, that clear up goals in talks with the EU. Jonfr (talk) 19:19, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

Here is a news from ft.com about possible accession talks. Jonfr (talk) 14:17, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

The Parliament debate has started. Jonfr (talk) 16:54, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Source (perferably in English)? And when does Parliament expect to finish making a decision? —Terrence and Phillip 02:04, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

The parliament foreign committee is expected to end discussions in the end of June (about two weeks time). I did try look for a source in english, none appears to exist at the moment. I will post a news about it here in english when I find it. Jonfr (talk) 05:57, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

The Icelandic Parliament foreign committee has finished discussions about the EU applications proposals, both from the government and oppressions.English news on that here. According to Icelandic news, the foreign minister is expecting to be able to submit a EU membership application by late next week, news in Icelandic about that can be found here. Jonfr (talk) 20:08, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

According to news today. The Icelandic government is going to apply for EU membership on the 27th of July 2009 if the resolution on EU membership application passes trough the Icelandic Parliament. But that is the most likely outcome. Few congress men and trying to put together a addon to the current resolution, demanding a double vote on the EU membership application. Jonfr (talk) 08:31, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are some more news on the Iceland EU debate in the Parliament, Iceland starts final debate on EU accession talks, Iceland Plans to Submit EU Application on July 27. The third and final debate on the Parliament is problay going to take place on Monday 13th of July 2009. Jonfr (talk) 17:50, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is a news from a German website about the Icelandic EU parlament debate, Icelandic parliament continues debate on EU membership. Jonfr (talk) 16:41, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

IcelandReview predicts that all 20 MPs from the Social Democrats support starting negotiations for EU membership, in addition with at least 3~4 MPs from the Civic Movement, 2 out of 9 MPs from the Progressive Party, and about 8 or 9 out of 14 MPs from the Left-Greens. However 5 Left-Greens and the Independence Party (and probably a few MPs from the Progressive Party) oppose EU membership. What does that mean for Iceland's bid for EU membership? One source says that Iceland may apply for membership in July 27, while another source conradicts that the process may be delayed longer. Can someone explain this out? —Terrence and Phillip 05:38, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I tried to read the latest news: ESB-umræða heldur áfram á Alþingi. But they are available in icelandic only, which is very hard for me as a Swedish person to read, even with a dictionary [15]. They seem to continue the debate, and more info will come later. It is hard to say what will happen. The headline "ESB-umræða heldur áfram á Alþingi" probably means "EU debate continues at parliament". --BIL (talk) 10:38, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

The EU application debate continues in the parliament today, it is going to finish today or tomorrow. According to my loose calculations this motion is going to be approved by 32 - 35 majority. With 20 votes from SDA (0 oppose), 8 to 9 votes from LGM (5 oppose), 3 confirmed votes from PP (rest oppose or unclear), possibly 1 vote from IP (unclear at the moment), 3 votes from CM (1 unclear). This is also based on news on this subject in Iceland, where media has been trying to predict the vote. If the debate finish today, then the vote can be tomorrow, or late today. It is more likely that the vote on the resolution is going to be tomorrow. Jonfr (talk) 13:44, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

So if the majority (at least 33 votes) approve the EU application, then Iceland will apply on July 27, right? —Terrence and Phillip 14:03, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

If the majority votes yes (32 votes),most likely outcome as it stands now, then the government is going to apply before the 27th on July. Some have been speculating on 14th of July. But dates are unclear at the moment. It depends on when the parliament finishes the debate. Each MP gets 1 hour of speaking time, plus answers and defense answers (not sure about the word on that in english). Here is some news on the current debate, Parliament in Iceland resumes debate on EU membership application. When I write this, there are still 15 speakers left. Jonfr (talk) 17:23, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

According to Icelandic news (Ruv), the vote on the motion is going to be afternoon tomorrow. The news on that can be found here. Jonfr (talk) 23:34, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

If approved tomorrow, Iceland is going to apply for EU membership before the EU meeting on 27th of July, possibly on the 17th of July. I got the wrong date earlier, I meant to write 17th of July. But I did press the wrong button (sorry). Jonfr (talk) 04:14, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

In Ruv news at 08:00 (Icelandic time) tells that at least 3 CM MP are going to vote against the motion on EU membership application. Unless the government drop the Icesave deal. That currently means that status of 1 CM MP is unclear. However, this still leaves the motion in majority of 32 - 34 depending various outcomes. However, there is still a 95% chance that this motion is going to pass later today. Jonfr (talk) 08:31, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

It is odd that the politicians in Iceland are more EU sceptic than the people who is positive towards EU membership. In many EU countries like Sweden (where I live) and also Norway the politicians are clearly EU positive, while the people are EU sceptic.--BIL (talk) 09:49, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

The politicans in Iceland are actually divided about 55-45 in EU positive vs EU sceptic. Most of the Icelandic public also seems to be about 50-50 divided as to whether join the EU. Usually countries in northern europe are the most EU sceptic when compared to other regions in europe. —Terrence and Phillip 12:43, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are some news in english on that debate status in Iceland.Iceland has mixed feelings about EU Membership, Iceland's parliament set to vote on EU bid. There is more going on in the Icelandic Parliament. At the moment, the parties in parliament are trying to get to a agreement on end of the debate about EU membership application.Jonfr (talk) 16:31, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are more news on Iceland EU debate. Iceland's EU Membership Debate Continues, Iceland set to vote on EU bid. Jonfr (talk) 18:44, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

The vote on the EU motion has been delayed until 12:00 tomorrow (16th July 2009), more on that in this news, Iceland's parliament aims for late vote on EU bid. The changes have been happening fast today, so the information on the main page is already outdated. Discussions on the EU motion are going to continue tomorrow (16th July 2009) at 10:00 Jonfr (talk) 19:24, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are some new english news on the Iceland EU debate in the Parliment, Iceland to debate EU membership, Iceland vote on EU bid delayed until Thursday. I will add more information here when I get them. Jonfr (talk) 03:19, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is a new news on this matter, this is WSJ, Iceland's EU Membership Debate Continues. Jonfr (talk) 06:58, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

BBC News has finally picked the story up, Iceland parliament to vote on EU. Jonfr (talk) 08:12, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are new news, Iceland’s Parliament Votes on EU Today. Jonfr (talk) 11:21, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

The motion did pass trough parliament. Yes sad 33, no 28, 2 did not vote. Here is news from Rúv on this (Icelandic). I will try to find english news when I can. Jonfr (talk) 14:05, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is a english news on the Icelandic EU parliament vote, Iceland's parliament votes in favour of EU bid. Jonfr (talk) 14:19, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

According to BBC News, Iceland is going to formally put in a EU membership application on the 27th of July 2009. The BBC News is here. Jonfr (talk) 16:10, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't know where they got that date from, it has always been clear that the application would be delivered as soon as practically posible after the passing of the motion. It was actually delivered today. [See here. http://mbl.is/media/79/1579.pdf] --194.105.255.161 (talk) 14:36, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

So. Does this change the 'Background' section, which opens with: "Iceland has never applied for EU membership."? --Elliskev 14:48, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

News on Rúv has confirmed this, the application for Icelandic EU membership has been delivered to EU. The news can be found here (Icelandic), the pdf file is here. Jonfr (talk) 14:55, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is a news in english about the Icelandic EU application today, Iceland hands in application to join EU. Jonfr (talk) 16:16, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I guess Iceland got restless and turned in their application 10 days early. Anyways after they submitted their membership application, when will Iceland hold their referendum on joining the EU and when does the EU grant Iceland offical candidate status? —Terrence and Phillip 21:44, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Maybe the press got it wrong yesterday. I don't know. I am not sure when Iceland is going to be a official candidate, that might happen in December, in the news the foreign minister here in Iceland is forecasting that negotiation might start in February 2010. But it depends on EU works on this. I only have Icelandic news on this. See here. This english news here is quite detailed, specially on potential entry date of the EU membership is approved in a national referendum. Jonfr (talk) 23:34, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is news on Iceland EU accession, Ambassador: Iceland ready to complete EU talks by 2011. Germany, Sweden, Denmark (I assume!), and few other countries have stated support for Iceland EU accession. However, I have not found news on that in english. Jonfr (talk) 20:51, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I found out when Iceland may start membership negotiations and hold its national referendum, click here. However the timeline Mr. Sigurdsson proposed apparently show some significant delay compared to what Iceland's prime minister wants. —Terrence and Phillip 06:07, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Gosh darn it! It looks like Icelanders may reject EU membership in the future referendum. I was hoping not to mention about this so I wouldn't jinx it, but here it is. —Terrence and Phillip 17:03, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

As an Icelander. I don't know what the Dw-World base there news story on. Given the recent EU approval in the nation, mainly because of the economic crash, there is more chance then less that EU membership is going to be approved in a referendum. There of course is the chance of going the Norway way, but that is only going to happen of the EU accession agreement is bad, but I find it doubtful that is going to happen. In other news, Iceland application is going to be approved on Monday according to the news today, EU to set Iceland on path towards joining bloc. I am not sure if that is going to make Iceland a official candidate or not. Jonfr (talk) 17:17, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Norway has tried and failed to join the EU four times before; two of which Norwegians rejected membership through a referendum. Both results for Norway tallied around 40+% yes and 50+% no vote. Currently the only way Iceland or any other aspiring country may join the EU now, even if Icelanders would approve Iceland's membership, would be through Ireland's own referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. —Terrence and Phillip 00:15, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are two news. This might mean that Iceland becomes a official candidate country today (I think). EU kick-starts Iceland's accession, EU ministers to put Iceland on road to accession. Jonfr (talk) 07:45, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

I should wait until the press statement from the foreign ministers meeting before saying anything. There's a lot of bureaucracy to be done to prepare for the negotiations before they can actually begin: even more so for Iceland simply because so many of the "chapters" won't need to be negotiated at all (as they are already covered by the EEA Agreement). The Foreign Affairs Council (and the Swedish Presidency) will have to decide how to handle the bureaucracy: I would expect a up-beat communiqué but no formal candidate status for "technical reasons". Physchim62 (talk) 11:52, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Morgunblaðið poll

Here is a poll that Morgunblaðið publiced in June, this poll was made by Gallup in Iceland for Morgunblaðið. The news artical can be found here. The news says.

57,9% want EU membership talks. 26,4% Oppose membership talks. 15,7% Are neutrual in the view to membership talks.

Jonfr (talk) 18:14, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Althing - italicised or not?

Is "Althing" supposed to be italicised as a non-English word? --Elliskev 23:47, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Althing is an Anglicized name for the parliament, which is called Alþingi in Icelandic. 66.117.142.209 (talk) 02:19, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

We don't italicise "Althing" because it is a proper noun, just as we don't italicise "Dáil" (lower house of the Irish parliament). We also don't include the suffixed definite article in the Icelandic Alþingi, beacuse in English we are always referring to "the Althing", so to say "the Althingi" would give us two definite articles. Physchim62 (talk) 10:28, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. --Elliskev 14:52, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Physchim62 but I should note that Alþingi is not actually a form with the definite article (that would be Alþingið). There are simply two forms of the word - in the old texts they are used alternatively but it just so happens that Alþingi became the normative usage in modern Icelandic and it just so happens that Althing is the conventional use in English. Haukur (talk) 18:50, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

I stand corrected on my Icelandic grammar! Physchim62 (talk) 01:35, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Deutsche mark used in vaticant?

Really? It was? They didnt use the Italian Lira? I think the others should be checked also, I doubt they all used Deutsche marks. Jasonfward (talk) 16:52, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Between the Vatican city and Montenegro there is a fullstop. SO the DM is refering only to Montenegro and Kosovo!--Melitikus (talk) 17:49, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

When did they apply

The current version states:

"Iceland officially applied for membership on 17 July 2009, and formally on 23 July."

Then further down:

"On 17 July 2009 the application for Icelandic membership to the EU was handed over to the government of Sweden ... The formal application was handed over on 23 July 2009"

This doesn't make much sense to me. When did they apply - was it 17th or 23rd? Can anyone help? Did they send the application to the wrong place ;) AndrewRT(Talk) 22:21, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

According to some sources, the Icelandic ambassador delivered it to the Swedish foreign minister on 17 July and according to other sources the Icelandic foreign minister did the same on 23 July. Either could be a formal appliciation or just for show. I have no clue. The letter of application is dated on 16 July, so maby this date must be accepted as the true date of application. The European Commission Council of the European Union did acknowledge the application on 27 July. Grioghair (talk) 16:32, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

This is speculation here, but it is plausible that the Icelandic ambassador delivered the application in Icelandic and/or Swedish on 17 July, and the Foreign Minister provided the official translations into English, French and German (the three "working languages" of the EU, from which all other translations are made) on 23 July.

In any case, going from reports in the Spanish press, the Council has instructed the Commission to prepare a report on the Icelandic application so that Iceland can be approved as a candidate and accession negotiations can start. There is no fixed deadline for preparing the report – the Enlargement Commissioner was quoted as saying "we'll prepare it as quickly as possible, but we'll take the time that it needs." – but the Spanish press reckon that it will be ready for approval (and nobody seriously thinks that it will be rejected) around the end of this year. Physchim62 (talk) 20:32, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

There is actually the possibility that the Netherlands will block the process until Iceland pays back a loan of 1.3 billion euro in connection with the collapse of landsbanki. The Icelandic parliament made clear it does not want to pay it back. "Dutch news in English". Grioghair (talk) 06:23, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

No one's suggesting that the Netherlands will block the application. It could conceivably block the final accession agreement, as Slovenia is currently blocking Croatia's accession over a border dispute. Still there's also a very real possibility that the loan will already have been paid back by then, whatever the Althing says – all depends on how much money can be made from the liquidation of Landsbanki's London branch. Physchim62 (talk) 08:11, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Icelandic EU accession bid box

Can I suggest we turn the "GDP" figures from absolute into per capita - that's what commentators tend to discuss. Any objections? AndrewRT(Talk) 22:23, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

That is a template, so it would affect lots of other pages. I think that both may be useful (absolute to illustrate how small Iceland is, per capita to illustrate how rich the citizens are). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stefan2 (talk • contribs) 20:59, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

July Fréttablaðið poll

There is a new Fréttablaðið poll about support for the application to EU. The numbers are as follows, Yes 51%, No 36,1%, No decision 12,1%, 8,8% no answer given, without the no option group, it goes as follows Yes 58,5%, No 41,5%. The news can be found here and here. Jonfr (talk) 11:01, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

The majority of Icelanders may support its country's membership application, to start negotiation talks, and the idea of adopting the euro; however they very may reject actual EU membership according to EUobserver. Unless the Social Democrats and anyone else who geniunely support EU membership can pull it off by convincing a majority of Icelanders to vote 'yes', its membership may just end up like Norway's two pervious failed attempts. —Terrence and Phillip 19:14, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

That poll was taken by Andriki (Gallup did peform the poll, but the poll it self was issued by Andriki), a liberal-right movement, that is connected to Independence party here in Iceland. It is the opinion of many that this poll is not correct in any way. For instance there have been reports on this poll that the answer ratio has been small. I do not think that the new poll made by Andriki tells the truth in this matter, but this is a good political spin for the anti-EU movement in Iceland. But it won't last in the long run. Jonfr (talk) 09:27, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Iceland not on multiple continents

The reference (http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2008/02/23/iceland-cannot-adopt-euro-with-joining-eu-says-stark) does not even mention Iceland being situated on two continents, and, though it sits on the border of the North American and the European plates, it is always and has always been referred to as belonging to Europe. I have deleted the wrong information. Twerbrou (talk) 17:23, 14 August 2009 (UTC)