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Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

bbc.com

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Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#261

Post by iamflimflam1 »

saevarom wrote: post #181

I run the count at one of the constituencies. We have about 42.000 people on the electoral register and we'll probably see about 75-80% turnout, so we're going to be counting about 33.000 votes with about 30-35 people on staff, 24 of them doing the actual counting. For the interest of the HN crowd, here is the technical report: You'll find that the Icelandic voting system is very low tech. The electoral registry for…

Not much different from the UK to be honest. The constituency and first past the post system means counting is a nicely decoupled distributed system.

Each constituency declares the local winner and the only outside impact is the total count of MPs for each party.

I would prefer something more complex that does give some of the smaller parties some MPs but no one seems particularly keen to change things.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#262

Post by fakedang »

p2detar wrote: post #18
ktallett wrote: post #2

It's a hard one. I feel the UK were wrong to leave but Norway and Switzerland have a fantastic overall quality of life without and I'm not sure the benefits of membership unless you are financially poor country. Iceland is probably better off joining the Schengen but not EU.

Yes, these are bad examples. Norway - rich beyond belief due to its energy resources. Switzerland - rich beyond belief because of its developed banking sector. Not sure how Iceland stacks up here. Fishing will be an issue for them, no doubt here.

[dead]

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#263

Post by interactivecode »

Beretta_Vexee wrote: post #91
ekidd wrote: post #7

> The No campaign fears losing control over Iceland's prized fishing grounds under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and has vowed never to share the country's waters with anyone. Brussels has indicated Iceland could earn some kind of exemption, but it is considered potentially the biggest obstacle to any agreement. As noted in the article, Iceland's fishing industry makes up something like 40% of their exports. Which…

One of the factors leading them to reconsider EU membership is monetary policy. The Icelandic króna is a very small currency that fluctuates considerably. Switching to the euro would protect them from exchange rate risks with their main trading partner. One solution for Iceland would be to join the eurozone without becoming a member of the EU, as Kosovo and Montenegro have done. However, this would only be desirable…

Can they become part of the eurozone without joining the european union?

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#264

Post by 087532379864 »

gizajob wrote: post #224
sajithdilshan wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure for a small country like Iceland if it make sense to use Euro over having control over their currency. Things could get super expensive overnight and it would work when things are smooth, but in current political climate you never know when the next financial crisis going to happen and don’t think they want Brussels to dictate their monetary policy

You obviously haven’t been to Iceland. Things already are extremely expensive.

[flagged]

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#265

Post by tonyedgecombe »

victorbjorklund wrote: post #116
Beretta_Vexee wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the factors leading them to reconsider EU membership is monetary policy. The Icelandic króna is a very small currency that fluctuates considerably. Switching to the euro would protect them from exchange rate risks with their main trading partner. One solution for Iceland would be to join the eurozone without becoming a member of the EU, as Kosovo and Montenegro have done. However, this would only be desirable…

You can just voluntarily adopt euro. Montenegro isn’t officially in the eurozone. They just unilaterally adopted it.

The problem is if you let your debts run too high then you can’t print your way out the problem.

Very few countries seem to have the fiscal discipline to make joining the euro a sensible option.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#266

Post by GeoAtreides »

magicalhippo wrote: post #69
earthnail wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Norwegian PM said to Britain back then “don’t repeat our mistake. We need to, in practice, follow all the EU’s rules and don’t get any say in it”

That's because the PM's party brokered that half-way deal with EU against the will of the people, after they had voted no to EU for the second time[1]. Not saying some of our export companies aren't enjoying the access to EU, but the people was against it. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Norwegian_European_Union_...

Since 1994 the will of the people had a lot of time to express itself...

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#267

Post by eloisant »

somenameforme wrote: post #243
azan_ wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If EU wants to be superpower, we need more European integration and less of national sovereignty. Unfortunately it will never happen and we are doomed to become more and more marginalised.

When the EU was more a coalition of independent nations, it had vastly more influence and power in the world. The efforts to centralize power seem to be exactly what's causing the divisions. You have highly partisan leaders trying to dictate policy to countries that lean in very different directions. That's not going to lead to good things. Stable empires have always been those that offered the greatest degrees of so…

When was that coalition of nations?

European countries were literally at each other throats until 1945, then we gradually built the European Union.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#268

Post by jonnybgood »

ekidd wrote: post #7

> The No campaign fears losing control over Iceland's prized fishing grounds under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and has vowed never to share the country's waters with anyone. Brussels has indicated Iceland could earn some kind of exemption, but it is considered potentially the biggest obstacle to any agreement. As noted in the article, Iceland's fishing industry makes up something like 40% of their exports. Which…

Why do you say NATO is fraying? Because of Russia, NATO has increased its membership, increased military budgets, and increased European military cooperation. It probably has never been stronger.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#269

Post by ngruhn »

bluegatty wrote: post #185
ngruhn wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The EU has benefits obviously but it's been failing Europe in critical ways for about 20 yeas now I like those benefits: The shared currency, easy travel, they killed roaming fees! Also they're the only ones seriously taking on big tech. They made Apple ditch their dumb ass lightning cable.

'roaming fees' :) That's my point: that's the most marginal thing imaginable, it's borderline tabloid populism - even though yes, admittedly over a lot of issues, it' beneficial obviously. The 'common market' is pretty valuable and it's what the focus should be. Literally nobody is against that - it's what everyone agrees on. As far as travel and roaming fees - you don't need a centralized government for any of that.…

Yeah you're probably right. I see everything through my little consumer perspective and don't really understand the macroeconomics. But if the euro is so obviously bad, why are Greece, Spain, etc not ditching it? Surely there are some macroeconomic benefits after all.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#270

Post by quantummagic »

runarberg wrote: post #255
quantummagic wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> border fascism I hope you keep to your principles and make sure not to lock your doors at night, and don't deny anyone the right to live in your house with you for free if they desire.

Sorry I must brake away from HN guidelines here: But this is an infinitely dumb comparison. I can’t even begin to fathom what kind of endless ignorance and prejudges can possess a person to speak such stupid words. A persons house is not the same as a border. You are comparing apples to grocery stores here. An immigrant can simply build another house next to mine if they want it. You can have open borders and private…

Typical response. Defending my home isn't racist. And your willingness to use that accusation is pathetic and not really worthy of a response... but understand that a border is the same concept be it for a home, for a community, for a city, or for a nation. Your dismissal is not cogent, it just hides utter misunderstanding of reality, and a desire to make other people pay a price you're not willing to pay yourself.
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