[LINK] "Iceland hunts the euro"
Jan. 23rd, 2009 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldThe subtitle of this article in the most recent Economist, "Why a crisis-hit Iceland may apply to join the European Union as soon as March," says it all.
The article makes the point that with the Icelandic krona lacking any credibility and the Icelandic economy risking isolation, adopting the euro may be the only way out for Iceland and in order to do that without wrecking relations with Brussels Iceland will have to join the European Union. The country will likely have to compromise on its exclusive control over its fisheries, but the anonymous author suggests that the country may be able to obtain temporary opt-outs.
In the past, I've blogged about "West Norden", the Nordic North Atlantic island societies of the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland. In the past, I've suggested that the Icelandic precedent of political independence from the metropole may be catching. With Iceland's sharp move towards the European Union, I can't help but wonder whether Greenland and the Faroes--both polities which have formally opted out from the European Union--may end up paradoxically reinforcing their political independence by joining the EU as member-states in their own right.
The European commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, is a strong ally. A Finn, Mr Rehn says that Iceland “would complement the EU, both philosophically and economically”. Its strict fish-management policies have been praised by the fisheries commissioner, Joe Borg (who is from Malta, a small island that has no selfish interests in cod). But there will be a new European Commission in the autumn. To catch both Mr Borg and Mr Rehn in their current jobs, an application must go in by April at the latest. The commission could rush through a formal positive opinion in six months (Iceland already applies two-thirds of EU laws). Iceland could then become a formal candidate in late 2009, when Sweden (another ally) holds the rotating EU presidency, and a full EU member by 2011. Membership of the single currency would take a bit longer, but pro-EU politicians say the simple act of applying and working towards euro convergence would reassure the markets.
The article makes the point that with the Icelandic krona lacking any credibility and the Icelandic economy risking isolation, adopting the euro may be the only way out for Iceland and in order to do that without wrecking relations with Brussels Iceland will have to join the European Union. The country will likely have to compromise on its exclusive control over its fisheries, but the anonymous author suggests that the country may be able to obtain temporary opt-outs.
In the past, I've blogged about "West Norden", the Nordic North Atlantic island societies of the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland. In the past, I've suggested that the Icelandic precedent of political independence from the metropole may be catching. With Iceland's sharp move towards the European Union, I can't help but wonder whether Greenland and the Faroes--both polities which have formally opted out from the European Union--may end up paradoxically reinforcing their political independence by joining the EU as member-states in their own right.
