8/12/2012

Want the EU application reconsidered

Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Leading people in the junior coalition partner of Iceland's government, the Left Green Movement, including the vice-chairman and at least most of their ministers and MPs believe the country's EU application should be reconsidered. This was the first news story in the evening news of Iceland's state broadcaster RUV last night Saturday.

RUV talked to both Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Minister of Education, Science and Culture and vice-chairman of the Left Green Movement, and Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Minister for the Environment, who both claimed the EU application should be reconsidered. The state broadcaster also said it also got similar reactions from most of the MPs of the party.

According to RUV's news story the Left Greens are worried that their party will suffer greatly if they carry on allowing the EU accession process as they have done since 2009 when the application was delivered. They also claim that many things have changed since three years ago citing the eurozone economic problems and uncertainty where the EU is heading.

The policy of the Left Greens is opposition to EU membership but they allowed the application after the 2009 general elections in order to form a government with the Social Democratic Alliance, the only political party in Iceland favouring membership.

According to opinion polls in Iceland more than 2/3 would reject EU membership in a referendum but for the country to join the bloc it would first have to be accepted by a popular vote. Furthermore the Left Greens have lost half the votes they got in 2009 accoring to opinion polls.

RUV's news story (in Icelandic)