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Iceland rejects EU-accession talks plan in referendum (www.aljazeera.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/world
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[–] 11 points 2 months ago (8 children)

I'm not super familiar with the pros and cons but who looks at the state of the world and thinks nah, I think I got this alone - I don't even wanna consider joining the EU

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  • [–] 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    It's probably due to fishing. The EU has things to say about that, and Iceland probably doesn't feel like doing those things.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Because the EU forces you to neoliberalise. Puts strict budget limits and therefore limits welfare spending and forces you to sell off certain government industries to the “free market”. Basically EU rules are very capitalist.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    That's the origin of the EU, building a shared market for coal and steel. I'm not going to try to convince the Marxists here, but those economical ties did provide shared prosperity, stability, peace and friendships over the decades. Now, I don't know if it would work out for the specifities of Iceland. They are probably already benefiting a lot from the EU without needing to participate more actively. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coal_and_Steel_Community

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    Alright that seems like totally fair and valid criticism. Ngl.

    What do EU countries get for it in return? I read somewhere "a stable euro" - that sure seems enticing, tbh. I bet it sucks to have the value of your currency fluctuate significantly/frequently. Yeah idk. Seems like a tough choice, tbh

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago*

    Acces to tax free exports to one of the richest and most stable market, visa free traveling, EU funded programs (for example to support local agriculture which has its downsides too) etc. They probably already partially benefit from these, so they don't see enough advantage to invest themselves more in the community.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Paraphrasing TL;DR news video I saw last night: Lots of fishing in the economy. They lose exclusive control of their waters. Other EU nations could come in and outcompete them leading to joblessness in those industries and the economic hit.

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    • [–] 8 points 2 months ago

    Quite divided but with 82.5 % turnout.

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    [–] 4 points 2 months ago

    Always 52 percent

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    [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Sweet sweet independence

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago*

    Iceland made the wrong choice here, IMO. They've kept themselves near the middle of the maturity continuum, instead of advancing to the top. At least they're still in EFTA and EEA, so are better off than UK, which voted (under Russian influence) to fully downgrade.

    Interdependence > independence > dependence

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    • [+] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)
    [removed by mod]
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