3 ms·

How do such referenda work in Iceland? Is this a simple Brexit-style yes/no question? Were people provided with context and arguments as to why (presumably?) th

• uxhacker 1mo ago
  The vote was for negotiations and not actually joining. Presumably there would have been another vote on joining the EU later. The telling sign is that the capital Reykjavík voted in favor of negotiations, but rural areas voted against.
  • ra 1mo ago
    that's also pretty much what happened in Brexit
    • uxhacker 1mo ago
      And not just city versus countryside, but the people most likely to benefit voting against. The EU needs to get better at marketing it self.
      • rsynnott 1mo ago
        It's in an inherently awkward place. National politicians will tend to represent popular EU policies as "look what we did" and unpopular as "look what THEY did". It's really very difficult for the EU to deal with this.
  • discopicante 1mo ago
    Iceland is already in the EEA and Schengen. The only upside I have read about would be access to adopting the Euro which has a lower inflation rate than the ISK. The main downside and likely what steered the vote to no are conflicts with Iceland's fishing industry x EU regulations and becoming more vulnerable to foreign ownership and fishing rights. Fishing represents 40% of Iceland's total exports according to Wikipedia. My guess is most voters in Reykjavik have near zero exposure to fishing as an industry.
    • msh 1mo ago
      And iceland might be forced to limit their business dealings with Russia.
      • discopicante 1mo ago
        Maybe you are not familiar with the EEA. Iceland already has access to the European single market. Just like Norway, who doesn't seem motivated to join the EU, either.
        • msh 1mo ago
          And how does that relate to what I wrote?
          • discopicante 1mo ago
            It is unclear to me how changing from EEA to EU membership somehow protects Iceland (a founding NATO member) against being 'forced to limit their business dealings with Russia'. That is how it relates. Feel free to help me connect the dots.
            • msh 1mo ago
              It was a added downside to the comment I was replying to.
    • uxhacker 1mo ago
      One benefit would have been that Iceland would have got to vote on EU Single Market legislation, which it currently has to incorporate into its laws without any say. Iceland would also benefit from trade deals with non EU countries (currently it is excluded). It also would have joined the Agricultural policy, which would have meant better access for its farm produce.
      • fmajid 1mo ago
        Realistically, how much sway would tiny Iceland really have on those regulations since most are covered by qualified majority voting? The ones they care about are precisely fishing, which is unsurprisingly a sticking point. Considering they literally had 3 Cod Wars with the UK, I don't think Iceland will blink first.
• spwa4 1mo ago
  The exact Icelandic wording printed on the ballot was: "Á Ísland að hefja á ný aðildarviðræður við Evrópusambandið?" Já/Nei A very literal English translation is: "Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?" Yes/No That is the wording formally approved by the Althing (Parliament) on 28 May 2026 and published by Iceland’s National Electoral Commission.
• andy_ppp 1mo ago
  The referendum was done specifically in two parts - 1. do you want us to try to find a deal with the EU 2. We will thrash out any details, get the best deal we can with the EU and give you another vote. Seems like Iceland didn't want to even waste the government's time looking into this... I quite like their government treated everyone like adults.
  • iamflimflam1 1mo ago
    I listened to an interview with the Icelandic PM and this seems pretty much correct. She was pro EU but equally was very clear that there were other things the government could focus on instead. Do you want us to burn a huge amount of time and effort on this. Or would you prefer us to focus on other problems?