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New internet poll in Iceland on the EU
New internet poll was made public today in Iceland which shows 58% opposed to membership of the European Union and 29% in favour. The poll was made yesterday by the Icelandic radio station Bylgjan.
Although this poll was not produced as scientificly as for example ones produced by Capacent (a question was simply asked at a popular website where everyone could participate but each ip-number only once) the results are nevertheless surprisingly in line with such polls.
Source:
Reykjavík síðdegis spurði: Hver er þín afstaða til ESB aðildar Íslands í dag? (Bylgjan.is September 9, 2010)
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New government policy: No mention of the EU application
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)
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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.
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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)
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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)
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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
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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)
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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)
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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.
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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)
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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)
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Who is responsible for the Icelandic EU application?
Apparantly no one is willing to shoulder the responsibility for the Icelandic application for membership of the European Union. Today representatives from Heimssýn, the Icelandic organisation opposed to EU membership, met with Romanian MEP Christian Dan Preda explaining to him that Icelanders simply have no interest in becoming members. Preda emphasised that the application was not the decision of the EU but the Icelandic government when told that the best thing to do was to put the whole thing on ice.
Predas comments cannot be understood otherwise than as an attempt to wash his and the EUs hands of responsibility for the application. Similar comments were made by EU representatives to the media last autumn when opinion polls in Iceland were showing an increased opposititon among Icelanders to EU membership. According to the results or the latest one published at the beginning of March this year as much as 70 percent of Icelanders would reject membership in a referendum.
While the EU points the finger at the Icelandic government claiming it solely responsible for the application the social democrat Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson insists he is only executing the decision of the Icelandic parliament. Still everybody knows that it was his government that pushed the application through the parliament a year ago with a narrow majority. Within the government the junior coalition partner, the Left Greens, then points the finger at the senior partner the Social Democratic Alliance.
The Icelandic government's EU application has become such a mess that no one wants to be responisble for it and everyone points the finger at someone else.
Source:
Enginn vill bera ábyrgð á ESB-umsókninni (Heimssyn.is May 25, 2010)
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Cast no shadow on Iceland's national holiday, thank you
The Sports and leisure council of the City of Reykjavík (ÍTR) today issued a resolution requesting the Icelandic government to see to it that a formal decision will not be taken on next June 17 to start accession negotiations with the European Union. On that day Icelanders celebrate their national holiday but on June 17, 1944 Iceland became an independent country. The European Council will hold its next meeting that same day and a decision on negotiations may be taken there. The resolution reads as following:
"The request is directed to the government of Iceland to see to it that a shadow will not be cast on celebrations of the national holiday of Icelanders with a decision to start accession negotiations between Iceland and the European Union on that day. This is a delicate issue and it should be pointed out that the majority of the Icelandic people are opposed to EU membership."
The ÍTR is a politically appointed council with representatives from all the political parties in Iceland and among other things responsible for the June 17 celebration in Reykjavík. Five out of six representatives supported the resolution. Only one rejected it, a representative from the ruling Social Democratic Alliance which is the only political party in Iceland that supports EU membership. The other representative of the social democrats in the ÍTR, however, initiated the resolution.
This is yet another token of how little support joining the EU has in Iceland. According to the last poll in Iceland 70 percent would reject membership in a referendum.
Source:
Varpi ekki skugga á 17. júní (Mbl.is May 21, 2010)
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Withdraw the EU application say 75 percent
In an internet poll produced by the Icelandic radio station Bylgjan on May 6 some 75 percent said they wanted Iceland's application for membership of the European Union to be withdrawn. Of those 62 percent wanted the application to be withdrawn completely while 13 percent wanted it to be withdrawn and postponed. Only 25 percent said they were opposed to the idea of withdrawing the application.
Source:
Bylgjan
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The EU application has no support in Iceland
Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), said at a meeting today with fellow partymembers that the current left-wing government had proven unable to advance its application for membership of the European Union. He said the government was stuck in a vicious circle when it came to the EU issue which it couldn't get out of.
Benediktsson, who's party leads the opposition, criticised the government for spending enourmous time, manpower and money on the application for EU membership despite the fact that the issue has no political leadership and doesn't have the support of the Icelandic people. Furthermore, he said there was no majority for membership in the Icelandic parliament and not even within the government itself.
Source:
Bjarni vill að landsfundi verði flýtt (Vísir.is April 17, 2010)
Further reading:
Does Iceland want to join the EU?
How serious is Iceland about joining the EU?
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The Social Democratic Alliance split in three on the EU issue
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson have both dismissed the comments from Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, former FM and chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin), that it would perhaps be better to postpone Iceland's EU application in the light of the Icelandic people's massive opposition to membership. Sigurðardóttir, the current chairman of the social democrats, said she was not as pessimistic as her predecessor.
What the comments by Gísladóttir, however, reveal is that the Social Democratic Alliance, Iceland's only pro-EU party, is totally split on the EU issue (former FM Gísladóttir represents a certain wing within the party), but now not only between those who want to join and those who don't want to (between 20-30 percent of the voters of the party usually reject membership according to the polls). Now the supporthers of EU membership within the party are also split in two, those who want to proceed with the present application and those who think it would be better to postpone the whole issue.
Source:
Fráleitt að fresta viðræðum við ESB (Vísir.is April 10, 2010)
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Former FM: No one is fighting for EU membership in Iceland
Former Foreign Minister of Iceland, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, said to the German journalist Clemens Bomdorf yesterday (April 8) that no one was really fighting for membership of the European Union in Iceland any longer. Membership would probably be rejected in a referendum and it was therefore even better to postpone the EU application rather than to continue the process in total uncertainty.
Gísladóttir is one of the most outspoken supporters of EU membership in Iceland and former chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance, the only political party in Iceland that favours membership. With these comments she joins a growing number of EU supporters in Iceland that have openly aired their worries about the EU application and predicted that it will be rejected by the Icelandic people.
Sources:
Betra að fresta ESB-viðræðum en halda þeim áfram í óvissu (Mbl.is April 9, 2010)
Stolz und Vorurteil (Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir 3) (Highnorth.wordpress.com April 8, 2010)
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70 percent of Icelanders would reject EU membership
The newest opinion poll in Iceland on membership of the European Union published earlier this month suggests that about 70 percent of Icelanders would vote no if a referendum was held now, up more than 8 percent since September 2009. Of those 51 percent were absolutely certain they would reject membership. At the same time only about 30 percent said they would vote yes.
The same poll also asked if people were in favour of EU membership with 60 percent saying they were not and only 24.4 percent saying they were. If those undecided are excluded the outcome is pretty much the same as in the referendum question mentioned above.
The vast majority in all social groups are opposed to EU membership whether with regard to sex, age, education, income, residense, or political affiliation with only one exception, the majority of the voters of the social democrats favour membership.
Source:
The results of the Capacent poll
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Does Iceland want to join the EU?
There were no celebrations in the streets of Reykjavík or elsewhere in Iceland when the European Commission announced on 24 February that it would recommend membership negotiations with the country. This really shouldn't come as a surprise in the light of the fact that Icelanders don't want to join the EU and probably never have.
According to the most recent public opinion poll in Iceland by Capacent, 56 percent are opposed to EU membership, up six percent since last September, while just 33 percent are in favour. Furthermore, the September poll showed a majority displeased with the government's EU application delivered last summer.
Read the full article
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New poll on EU membership in Iceland
New poll in Iceland on the attitude of the Icelandic people towards EU membership produced by Capacent for the Farmers Association of Iceland and published today (February 28). The results are as follows:
33.2 percent in favour of EU membership (thereof 9.4 percent totally in favour, 7.2 percent very much in favour and 16.6 percent rather in favour).
56 percent opposed to EU membership (thereof 28.4 percent totally opposed, 11.3 percent very much opposed and 16.3 percent rather opposed).
26.8 percent trust the Icelandic government to defend the interests of the Icelandic people in Iceland's accession process to the EU.
58 percent do not trust the Icelandic government to defend the interests of the Icelandic people in Iceland's accession process to the EU.
A total of 1.173 people were polled with 68.7 percent participating.
This is in line with previous polls.
Sources:
Aðeins þriðjungur hlynntur ESB-aðild (Vísir.is February 28, 2010)
Meirihlutinn á móti ESB-aðild (Mbl.is February 28, 2010)
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Icelandic companies say no to the EU
New poll which was released in Iceland today shows that about 60 percent of the leading people of Icelandic companies believe that Iceland is better placed economically outside the EU. Only 31 percent think the country would be better placed within it. This is in line with the last polls on the attitude of Icelanders in general towards EU membership.
Certain people in the Icelandic business community have been among the most powerful lobbyists for EU membership in recent years. A year ago a similar poll showed a totally different attitude towards the EU by the majority of the leading people of Icelandic companies. So this is seen a big news and yet another shock for the Icelandic pro-EU side.
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Ruling Left-Greens confirm EU opposition
The party council of the Icelandic political party The Left Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð) yesterday (January 16) confirmed the party's opposition to Iceland joining the European Union.
The Left Greens have since the foundation of the party been opposed to joining the EU but decided not to oppose an application being sent to Brussels after the general election in the spring of 2009 in order to form a government with the pro-EU Social Democratic Alliance. Since opposition to the joining the EU has grown rapidly among Icelanders with about two thirds against the move according to the latest polls. The EU application, which was only narrowly approved in the Icelandic parliament in July 2009, has also been very unpopular within the LGM. The party council is the highest authority of the LGM between national congresses.
The party council's statement reads:
"The party council confirms the opposition of the Left Green Movement to possible membership of Iceland of the European Union. Despite an application for membership has been delivered it is the outmost will of the party council that Iceland shall remain an independent state outside the EU. The party council of the Left Green Movement urges ministers, MPs and members of the Left Greens across the country to honour the party's policy to oppose membership of the EU and to fight hard for it."
This is seen as yet another token of the split between the government parties on the EU issue.
Source:
The LGM party council's statement
See also:
Fisheries Minister: Iceland better off outside the EU
New chairman of the Icelandic No movement
Would have voted against an EU application in opposition
How serious is Iceland about joining the EU?
Former FM says EU membership will probably be rejected
Finance Minister: Icelanders don't want to join the EU
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Fisheries Minister: Iceland better off outside the EU
Iceland's Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Jón Bjarnason, yesterday gave a speech to an international conference on coastal fisheries in Biarritz in France. At the end of his speech Bjarnason, who voted against his government's application for membership if the European Union this summer, discussed from his point of view the situation of that application and how it came about:
"Last summer the Icelandic Parliament, Althingi, decided, to apply for EU membership. The process has already begun, although nobody knows how much time is needed for the negotiations. The political background is somewhat peculiar. The two parties in government have opposing opinions. While one is for membership, the other my party the Left-greens is rather strongly against it but has agreed to let a national referendum have the final say.
Recent opinion polls in Iceland show a huge majority against membership. Keeping in mind that all the agricultural sector, the farmers and the food industry are against membership, and the same goes for the whole of the fishing industry as my own party the left-greens, it should not surprise anyone that I am not in favor of membership myself.
Iceland is a small island situated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with just over 300 thousand inhabitants. The foundation of our livelyhood lies in our natural resources; we must maintain sovereignty over our most valued assets, our economy, our culture and our future generations are depending on it. We can enjoy wide-ranging international cooperation without being tied up in the EU framework.
Given these circumstances, it is my firm belief that the future of our country is will be much better off outside European Union than inside."
Source:
Jón Bjarnason's speech
See also:
How serious is Iceland about joining the EU?
Report: Icelandic government to apply for EU membership
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New chairman of the Icelandic No movement
Heimssýn, the Icelandic broad-political organisation opposed to membership of the European Union, held its national congress today (November 15) and elected a new board. The new chairman is Ásmundur Einar Daðason, MP for the Left Green Movement.
Ragnar Arnalds, former Finance Minister, stepped down as chairman after holding the post for the past seven years or since Heimssýn was founded in June 2002. Arnalds will nevertheless continue to stay on the board as a regular board member.
The Left Greens are in government with their senior coalition partner the Social Democratic Alliance. When the government applied for EU membership in July this summer Daðason was among four other Left Green MPs who voted against the application.
Source:
Ásmundur Einar nýr formaður Heimssýnar (Mbl.is November 15, 2009)
See also:
How serious is Iceland about joining the EU?
Report: Icelandic government to apply for EU membership
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Would have voted against an EU application in opposition
Finance Minister Steingrímur J. Sigfússon and chairman of the junior coalition partner in the Icelandic government, the Left Green Movement, said in a recent interview with the website Balinn.blog.is (published on August 21) that if he had been in opposition and thus not in the government he would probably have voted against applying for membership of the European Union this summer instead of voting in favour.
Sigfússon's Left Greens are opposed to EU membership according to their platform but the leadership decided to give in and support applying in order to stay in government with the pro-EU Social Democratic Alliance. The social democrats had made it an absolute condition for a renewed coalition after the general elections last spring that an application for EU membership would be sent to Brussels.
However, Sigfússon recently admitted that despite the application being delivered by his government it was nevertheless obvious that the Icelandic people did not want to join the EU. The latest opinion polls have suggested that a vast majority opposes EU membership with the last one from Capacent published on November 5 putting the margins at 54 percent against and only 29 percent in favour.
The interview on YouTube (in Icelandic)
See also:
How serious is Iceland about joining the EU?
Report: Icelandic government to apply for EU membership
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