Iceland votes no on resuming EU accession talks

What is it about Iceland that makes it unwilling to join the EU? On Saturday, in a referendum, 52.5% of Icelanders voted against resuming accession negotiations, with 47.5% in favor and nearly 90% of the vote counted. Around 273,000 citizens went to the polls. Turnout was high. The message is clear: Icelanders prefer to remain outside the European project.

The economic case for the no vote

The most common reading is not cultural but financial. Wealthy countries that join the EU end up paying the bill. Iceland, with a small but sound economy, does not need cohesion funds. Those who want to join are countries like Ukraine or Armenia, which receive transfers while being, as one analysis ironically put it, "wrecked." The comparison with Spain, which joined and received funds for decades, hangs over the debate. If you are a net contributor, EU bureaucracy is a cost that is hard to justify.

The bottle cap mirage

The anecdote making the rounds is as silly as it is telling: bottle caps tied to the water bottle, an EU directive that Icelanders have "fled from." The phrase sums up the perception of an EU that legislates down to the last detail. The campaign for a yes vote was intense on television, but it wasn't enough. The narrow margin leaves an open wound and a faction already calling for the vote to be repeated until the right result comes out.

Icelanders have spoken. This time. Democracy is uncomfortable; above all for those who expected a different answer. But time goes by, and in Brussels you never know when the roulette wheel will spin again.