The plight of Icelend is relevant to Ireland becase of the possibility that this country may go bankrupt if the government's financial measures are not successful. It behoves us to look at the kind of treatment being meted out to Iceland by Europe at the moment and see how abuse of a country with which we share the atlantic is being perpetrated by the EU, and in particular by Britain and the Netherlands.
This articly is by Eva Joly. "Eva Joly is an advisor for the criminal investigation into the failed Icelandic banks. She is a member of the European Parliament, a former Juge d'Instruction in France (the Elf Aquitaine investigation being her most famous case), and a former adviser to the Norwegian government on corruption. Mme Joly is also a founding member of The Tax Justice Network"
"Let us look, first of all, at the demands of the UK and the Netherlands. These countries are concerned by the failure of the Icelandic banks because they had welcomed their subsidiaries and branches with open arms, even though their authorities had been at least partially alerted to the risks hanging over those banks. They are now demanding that Iceland pay them astronomical sums (more than €2.7 billion to the UK and over €1.3 billion to the Netherlands), plus interest at 5.5%. They consider that Iceland was responsible for guaranteeing the funds deposited with Icesave, the internet arm of Landsbanki that was offering unbeatable rates. The British and the Dutch decided to set that guarantee not at around €20,000 per deposit, as provided for in European and Icelandic legislation– which would already have been impossible for the Icelandic government, who quickly announced after nationalising its banks that it could only guarantee deposits made in Iceland itself – but at €50,000 to €100,000 per deposit, or even higher. Moreover, the measures that they are taking to get their way are scandalous.
"Indeed, at the very start of October, the UK began with a measure of extreme retaliation: freezing of the assets of not only Landsbanki but also Kaupthing Bank, which was totally unconnected to Icesave, using its anti-terrorism legislation. In doing so, the UK lumped the Icelandic people, their allies in NATO, together with the likes of organisations such as al-Qaeda... And since then, it seems to be using all of its influence to ensure that no international aid is really given to Iceland until its demands have been met. Indeed, Gordon Brown told his parliament that he is working “with the IMF” to establish how much it considered the UK was entitled to claim from Iceland. The IMF itself, meanwhile, not content with putting off making its loans available to Iceland, attached conditions to them that would seem outrageous, even in fiction.
"One example of this is the objective of bringing Iceland’s public deficit down to zero by 2013, a target that is impossible to achieve but that will nevertheless lead to huge cuts in the most essential areas of spending such as education, public health, social security, etc. Finally, on the whole, the attitude of the EU and other European countries has hardly been more commendable. The European Commission has clearly sided with the UK, as its President announced in November that there would be no European aid until the Icesave case had been resolved. It is true that Mr Barroso – too busy with his own campaign and terrified of upsetting his main source of support, London – is, as is often the case, in over his head. Even the Scandinavian countries, which heralded international solidarity, are conspicuous by their lack of reaction to the blackmailing of Iceland – which certainly puts the generosity of the loans they have promised into perspective."
This articly is by Eva Joly. "Eva Joly is an advisor for the criminal investigation into the failed Icelandic banks. She is a member of the European Parliament, a former Juge d'Instruction in France (the Elf Aquitaine investigation being her most famous case), and a former adviser to the Norwegian government on corruption. Mme Joly is also a founding member of The Tax Justice Network"
"Let us look, first of all, at the demands of the UK and the Netherlands. These countries are concerned by the failure of the Icelandic banks because they had welcomed their subsidiaries and branches with open arms, even though their authorities had been at least partially alerted to the risks hanging over those banks. They are now demanding that Iceland pay them astronomical sums (more than €2.7 billion to the UK and over €1.3 billion to the Netherlands), plus interest at 5.5%. They consider that Iceland was responsible for guaranteeing the funds deposited with Icesave, the internet arm of Landsbanki that was offering unbeatable rates. The British and the Dutch decided to set that guarantee not at around €20,000 per deposit, as provided for in European and Icelandic legislation– which would already have been impossible for the Icelandic government, who quickly announced after nationalising its banks that it could only guarantee deposits made in Iceland itself – but at €50,000 to €100,000 per deposit, or even higher. Moreover, the measures that they are taking to get their way are scandalous.
"Indeed, at the very start of October, the UK began with a measure of extreme retaliation: freezing of the assets of not only Landsbanki but also Kaupthing Bank, which was totally unconnected to Icesave, using its anti-terrorism legislation. In doing so, the UK lumped the Icelandic people, their allies in NATO, together with the likes of organisations such as al-Qaeda... And since then, it seems to be using all of its influence to ensure that no international aid is really given to Iceland until its demands have been met. Indeed, Gordon Brown told his parliament that he is working “with the IMF” to establish how much it considered the UK was entitled to claim from Iceland. The IMF itself, meanwhile, not content with putting off making its loans available to Iceland, attached conditions to them that would seem outrageous, even in fiction.
"One example of this is the objective of bringing Iceland’s public deficit down to zero by 2013, a target that is impossible to achieve but that will nevertheless lead to huge cuts in the most essential areas of spending such as education, public health, social security, etc. Finally, on the whole, the attitude of the EU and other European countries has hardly been more commendable. The European Commission has clearly sided with the UK, as its President announced in November that there would be no European aid until the Icesave case had been resolved. It is true that Mr Barroso – too busy with his own campaign and terrified of upsetting his main source of support, London – is, as is often the case, in over his head. Even the Scandinavian countries, which heralded international solidarity, are conspicuous by their lack of reaction to the blackmailing of Iceland – which certainly puts the generosity of the loans they have promised into perspective."