Former Viðreisn figures reject renewed EU talks

Two former officials of Iceland’s Viðreisn party have decided to vote against reopening accession talks with the European Union, mbl.is reports.

They are Sigríður María Egilsdóttir, a former first deputy member of parliament for the party in the Southwest constituency, and Kristófer Alex Guðmundsson, a former chair of Viðreisn’s youth movement.

Egilsdóttir sat in parliament several times for Viðreisn in 2018 and 2019 as a substitute for the party’s leader, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. She will explain her position at a rally organised by the Áfram Ísland movement at Austurvöllur square tomorrow. Former Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and others will also address the rally.

Guðmundsson, who led Viðreisn’s youth movement from 2018 to 2019 and now lives in Spain, explained his decision in a Facebook post.

“This summer I, like other Icelanders, have listened to the arguments of those who want Iceland to enter accession negotiations with the European Union. The burden of proof lies with those putting this on the agenda,” he wrote.

Guðmundsson said supporters of reopening talks had disappointed him by claiming that loans and the cost of a food basket would fall without negative effects. He argued that Iceland currently has the world’s highest purchasing power for wages, the lowest unemployment and the highest proportion of people, particularly young people, living in their own homes.

He said lower interest rates would push up property prices, which would affect first-time buyers most severely. He also argued that the euro would not automatically lower interest rates or inflation and that Iceland would need to change systems such as its labour market model.

“Joining the EU for that purpose is like shooting a bird with a cannonball,” he wrote.

Guðmundsson also criticised the EU’s resource policies. He said Iceland’s quota system was better than the EU system, which he described as wholly unsustainable, and said the same applied to energy production. He argued that the proposed negotiating objectives had shifted from seeking an exemption to seeking special solutions, followed by increasingly vague answers.

He said there was no way for Iceland to avoid the EU’s common resource policy and questioned what benefit Iceland would gain from giving up its specific arrangements.