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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

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 20d ago
And iceland might be forced to limit their business dealings with Russia.
- discopicante 20d 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 19d ago
    And how does that relate to what I wrote?
    - discopicante 19d 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 19d ago
        It was a added downside to the comment I was replying to.
uxhacker 20d 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 19d 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.
rsynnott 20d ago
> The only upside I have read about would be access to adopting the Euro which has a lower inflation rate than the ISK. Strictly speaking, Iceland could do this unilaterally, anyway; Kosovo and Montenegro have done so, and Denmark and a bunch of African countries peg their currency to the euro.
GeoAtreides 19d ago
>Fishing represents 40% of Iceland's total exports according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland : >Iceland's economy depended heavily on fishing, which still provides ~20% of export earnings and employs 7% of the workforce.[77][152] [...] Iceland's economic dependence on fishing is diminishing, from an export share of 90% in the 1960s to 20% in 2020.[153][152] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Iceland : >[The fishing industry] provides 40% of export income and employs 7.0% of the workforce; therefore, the state of the economy remains sensitive to world prices for fish products.[ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn45vdxyvvlo https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn45vdxyvvlo : >its fishing and marine industries make up almost 40% of exports. Note bbc says fishing _and_ _marine_ industries only god knows what the truth actually is
blahblaher 19d ago
Adopting the Euro is the worst part of what joining the EU would entail. While it may have some convenience benefits, and is perhaps less inflationary, it removes one of the fundamentals of the what a government is there for: monetary sovereignty. You can no longer define your budgetary limits,m, you are always being pressured for austerity because the (mostly) Germans don't understand money, and so it is a constant struggle to get anything for the people done. What you get is a constant "management"-style government, barely scraping by..

msh 20d ago

And iceland might be forced to limit their business dealings with Russia.

discopicante 20d 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 19d ago
  And how does that relate to what I wrote?
  - discopicante 19d 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 19d ago
      It was a added downside to the comment I was replying to.

uxhacker 20d 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 19d 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.

rsynnott 20d ago

> The only upside I have read about would be access to adopting the Euro which has a lower inflation rate than the ISK. Strictly speaking, Iceland could do this unilaterally, anyway; Kosovo and Montenegro have done so, and Denmark and a bunch of African countries peg their currency to the euro.

GeoAtreides 19d ago

>Fishing represents 40% of Iceland's total exports according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland : >Iceland's economy depended heavily on fishing, which still provides ~20% of export earnings and employs 7% of the workforce.[77][152] [...] Iceland's economic dependence on fishing is diminishing, from an export share of 90% in the 1960s to 20% in 2020.[153][152] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Iceland : >[The fishing industry] provides 40% of export income and employs 7.0% of the workforce; therefore, the state of the economy remains sensitive to world prices for fish products.[ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn45vdxyvvlo https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn45vdxyvvlo : >its fishing and marine industries make up almost 40% of exports. Note bbc says fishing _and_ _marine_ industries only god knows what the truth actually is

blahblaher 19d ago

Adopting the Euro is the worst part of what joining the EU would entail. While it may have some convenience benefits, and is perhaps less inflationary, it removes one of the fundamentals of the what a government is there for: monetary sovereignty. You can no longer define your budgetary limits,m, you are always being pressured for austerity because the (mostly) Germans don't understand money, and so it is a constant struggle to get anything for the people done. What you get is a constant "management"-style government, barely scraping by..