EU

On being bought and paid for by the EU

June 25, 2010

Here in Iceland there exists a narrow group of right-wing extremists who go to all sorts of lengths to propagate scaremongering and misinformation about various issues, including Iceland’s proposed membership to the European Union. These people are primarily the so-called quota kings and people close to the Independence Party who have held power in Iceland [...]

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Iceland, the EU and that pesky rebellious streak

June 23, 2010

The Financial Times has a good piece today on Iceland’s potential [or more likely non, according to the article] membership to the European Union. So Icelandic entry into the EU is far from automatic.  It is a well-off, well-organised, law-abiding, creative society, and in this sense Iceland is far ahead of other countries queuing up to [...]

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Of June 17 and rescinding the EU application

June 14, 2010

So an MP for the Independence Party, Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir, along with several other MPs, is currently preparing a parliamentary resolution that would have Iceland rescind its application to the European Union. Meanwhile, Bloomberg has a draft declaration from the upcoming meeting which states that Iceland’s accession application will be approved at a meeting of [...]

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The warm embrace of the Chinese

June 11, 2010

Imagine our surprise this week up here in lil’ old Iceland when — without prior warning — we were suddenly confronted with a rather large convoy of imposing black vehicles , driving through our streets and stopping traffic, replete with police vehicles and flashing blue lights. It was like the president of the freaking United [...]

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Of misinformation, fearmongering and the European Union

June 1, 2010

As many of you will know, last week our YT travelled to Brussels in order to check out the European Union. It was at the EU’s expense, and as far as I can tell these trips for “stakeholders” happen as a matter of course when a country has applied for membership to the Union. Quite [...]

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A brief missive from the bleary-eyed

May 28, 2010

I’m back from Brussels after a whirlwind trip to European Union HQ. It was four days in total, of which two went exclusively for travel, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. Mind you, I had zero expectations at the outset — I’ve done these sorts of official trips before [...]

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“This is where Iceland could be very useful”

February 26, 2010

An article that appeared on The Guardian website yesterday has a pretty astute take on the Iceland-EU situation. Surely of interest to anyone who wonders what on earth the EU could possibly want with Iceland. Despite the banking dispute, many leaders across Europe are keen to see Iceland in the union because of its strategic [...]

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Iceland to join EU’s carbon reduction program

December 15, 2009

My latest post on the THINK platform. Would you believe that pollution in Reykjavík has exceeded health safety levels 15 times in the last 24 hours? No doubt I am like most THINKers, keeping a close watch on the proceedings in Copenhagen. It’s hard to know what to say about it until something definitive is [...]

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A conspiracy theory cooked in the hot pot

August 9, 2009

As many of you will know, the hot pots [or tubs] in Icelandic swimming pools serve pretty much the same function as the pub does in Britain, or the café in France … it’s where people gather together to socialize and discuss current affairs and matters of national importance. This evening I read a pretty [...]

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