Socialists say EU rules block socialist policies

About 50 people attended a joint meeting of Young Left Greens and Roði, a young socialists’ organisation, at Horninu on Saturday to discuss left wing arguments against Iceland joining the European Union ahead of a planned referendum, mbl.is reported.

Among the speakers was Silja Sóley Birgisdóttir, a Reykjavík city councillor for the Socialist Party. She said the meeting was partly intended to draw attention to left wing opposition to EU membership, which she believed had not been sufficiently represented.

“Basically, socialism is not even possible within the EU because of its market rules and regulatory framework,” Birgisdóttir told mbl.is. “It also has a very harsh foreign and asylum policy, which is somewhat at odds with our own policy.”

Solutions will not be found in the EU

Birgisdóttir said the European Union was becoming increasingly right wing and that it was therefore more realistic to implement left wing policies through Iceland’s parliament.

“There is enough information available for left wing people to familiarise themselves with what the European Union stands for, and it should be very clear that it is not what we want,” she said.

She acknowledged that changes were needed in Iceland, including in economic affairs, the housing loan system and other areas. However, she said the solutions would not be found through EU membership.

“I understand that people are looking for something else because they may have given up somewhat on politics here at home, but those solutions will not be found in this union. They will be found by standing together and putting our views forward here,” she said.

Shared concerns among the parties

Halldór Ísak Ólafsson, chairman of Roði, and Illugi Gunnarsson, chairman of Young Left Greens, also told mbl.is that their organisations shared similar views on the European Union.

“Neither of us is fond of right wing economic management, and we share concerns about the European Union’s foreign policy and asylum issues, its support for Israel and many other matters, such as militarism,” Halldór said.

Illugi said the issue was primarily about the people’s right to make decisions, including deciding the final steps themselves and retaining legislative and executive powers to some extent at home.

He also cited the EU’s conduct regarding the genocide in Gaza and economic affairs within the union, saying it was very difficult to pursue a hard left wing policy within the EU.