Accession To The Eu - Iceland

Páginas: 20 (4775 palabras) Publicado: 14 de octubre de 2012
EUROPEAN POLITICS ESSAY |
Future Enlargements |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 4
The relations between Iceland and the EU so far 5
The influence of Icesave on Iceland’s EU membership application 5
What do the Icelanders want? 7
Application for EU membership 11
* Enlargement process 11
* Iceland’s EU membershipapplication 12
Conclusion 13
Bibliography 14

INTRODUCTION
Enlargement played an important role in the history of the EU. It started in 1951 with the Treaty of Paris with 6 countries, since than the European Coal and Steel Community has been changed into the EU and has grown with 12 countries to 27 member states. But the expansion is not over.

The desire to be an EUmember state has not always been there. What made them change their minds? How does the Icelandic population think about EU membership? Was the economical crisis the final push for Iceland to apply for EU membership, or is there another reason?

These questions lead to the Research Question of this essay is: The accession of Iceland to the EU. A reality or not?
To give a clear and completeanswer to this question, you must clarify a few things through answering a number of sub-themes:

* The relations between Iceland and the EU so far
* The influence of Icesave on Iceland’s EU membership application
* What do the Icelanders want?
* Application for EU membership
* Enlargement process
* Iceland’s EU membership application



THE RELATIONS BETWEENICELAND AND THE EU SO FAR
Iceland has relations with the EU since 1970 when it became a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). This is a free trade organisation between European states, which are unable, or choose not to join the EU. Later on in 1994, Iceland signed the European Economic Area (EEA). This is an agreement between the EFTA and the EU. This allowed Iceland toparticipate in the EU’s single market (free trade within the EU) without EU membership. In exchange Iceland had to adopt EU legislation related to the single market, with the exception of fisheries and agriculture. Since 2001 Iceland is an associate member of the Schengen area which removes border controls between member states. The main reason to join the Schengen area for Iceland was their willingnessto maintain the benefits of no border control, which allows citizens in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland to travel, resident and work freely in each of these countries without needing passports or work permits.
THE INFLUENCE OF ICESAVE ON ICELAND’S EU MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
In history Iceland was a poor country in Western Europe. That changed when the Icelandic economy grew in the20th century. This had led to Iceland scoring the highest in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2007. Unfortunately for Iceland this joy did not lasted really long, because from 2006 onwards the Icelandic economy faced problems. In 2008 the Icelandic currency, the Icelandic Króna, declined significantly. The financial system expanded rapidly before collapsing entirely in the well knownfinancial crisis (2007-2010).
All 3 of the country’s commercial banks, the Landsbanki, Glitnir and Kaupthing, collapsed eventually and the control over the banks was handed to the Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) of Iceland. This led to the Icelandic parliament passing emergency legislation to minimise the impact of the financial crisis.
Icesave was the trade name under which the secondlargest bank in Iceland, the Landsbanki, was active on both the Dutch and the UK market. The goal was to attract savings from online saving accounts. On 8 October 2008, the Landsbanki told their Icesave savers in the Netherlands and the UK that it could no longer fulfil their commitments. This caused a lot of damage.
On 11 October, the Netherlands and Iceland agreed that Iceland must fulfil the...
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