According to a report by a journalist for the EU Observer, Dutch officials have managed to “convince” other members of the EU that the Icesave dispute is not simply a bilateral with Iceland on one side and the UK and Netherlands on the other, rather an EU-wide issue which concerns all member states.

Morgunblaðið spoke to Leigh Phillips, the EU Observer journalist, for a short time at the end of the working day in Brussels.

Phillips speaks about Iceland’s application to the EU in an article on the website of the publication, which has been republished on Bloomberg Businessweek’s website. When asked about the headline, “Iceland faces uphill battle to join EU”, Phillips says that it was not him that decided to use it.

Another matter which has been confirmed by acting officials in interviews with José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, is the fact that he has recently registered his concerns about the division of opinion on Iceland’s application to the EU within the country’s political system.

The Icelandic nation and its politicians are completely divided on the issue, with recent opinion polls indicating that roughly half are against and half are for (the opinion polls usually have a variance of  around 10% for/against each time a new one is given out).

Phillips concluded this from a quote by Barroso, where he said that the EU was ready to start formal talks with Iceland over its accession on the proviso that Icelanders stand together on the issue. This was confirmed in interviews with officials, who wished to remain anonymous.

Icelandic speakers can read Morgunblaðið’s interview with Leigh Phillips here, and his blog post on the issue can be read over at Businessweek.

Source: mbl.is
Image: redvers

Labels: EU, Politics