Remember the economic crash in 2001 in Turkey?

Or what about Sweden`s financial crisis in 1992?

LosM, if joining the EU was all about how states handel their finances, market regulations, monetary policy...etc then Turkey and Sweden shouldn`t have the right to join the EU either.But it`s much more than that.There are many other EU requirements that needs to be fulfilled.

I don't want Turkey in EU. We are not European.

Greece has been a member of EU for so long. You look at pictures of Athens in 70s and now. What the fuck has changed?

Is Athens suddenly the center of culture?

If you didn't have it to begin with, you won't get it by joining EU> Fuck EU>EVen Brits don't want it.

what has changed in Athens? you dont have a clue what you talking about

Do enlighten me

new:

-airport
-suburban railway system
-underground
-tram
-port
-cargo port
-highways inside city
-ring road
-a couple of million trees planted
-stadiums
-etc...


also major polluting factories removed , smog is gone traffic is the same but amount of cars had quadruple , new industrial parks have been built and others are building. Athens has completely changed to the better , everyone living in athens and is old enough to remember the city in the 70's will tell you

Turkey and Sweden, didnt lose over a Billion POUND STERLING of innocent peoples money that had invested from abroad.

The British government had to invoke AntiTerror laws to freeze assets !!! ARE you reading this part ???

This is not about just economic crashes, this si about irresponsible behaviour !!! Do you understand how the Credit Crunch happened Evro ? Not trying to be a prick or anything.

Wow we did all that without EU money.

Errr, the Turkish Lira has plunged against the Dollar which has caused the Turkish central bank to intervene which means that they have to use the tax payers money and all the negative consequences that comes with a Turkish Lira that has dropped 30 percent in value over the past six months: THIS IS HAPPENING NOW!

This article is from today:

But then again, you are missing my point.Joining the EU isn`t only about how you handle your finances, market regulations, monetary policy...etc there are many other EU requirements than the issue you raise LosM.How many times do I have to say this?

Oh, and stop whining and tell Prime minister Gordon Brown & Co to use their veto against Iceland but hey, I thought you hated everything that had to do with the EU so who am I to tell you what to do.

can i also add
the bridge near patras
a growth rate from 1996-2008 higher than the EU average
which has greece now achieving a GDP over 80% of the EU average
Green buses for athens
airports and hospitals for the islands.
holding the olympics
new museum for athens


let me add also that turkey has in all likelyhood made great strides too of that i have no doubt.Guys lets not get too immersed in negativity too much .yes there are huge problems in the world but overall as a society and civilisation we are moving forward.....remember as becker from the tv series once said when people kept mentioning the good old days..."people used to crap in their hats in the good old days"

The Universe is a positive thing thats how it functions

anyway as you've probably gathered i'm a bit of a hippy so excuse my rant

ofcourse , you did it with world bank loans

So basically you are saying without EU help you would not have been able to do all those things in the past 20 years???

How did Greece even exist before EU?

i have answered to your question about how athens changed. what is this has to do with the EU funding?

Johanna Sigurdardottir, the Social Democratic prime minister, wants to apply for EU membership within weeks


Iceland closer to joining EU after left-wing victory

LEIGH PHILLIPS

Today @ 09:29 CET

Icelandic voters punished the centre-right party that had governed the country for most of the last 18 years and dominated it for generations, delivering a clear majority in a snap general election to the centre-left Social Democrats and far-left and ecologist Left Green Movement.

But in a twist on expectations, voters also sent to the Althingi, the Icelandic parliament, a majority of deputies in favour of an immediate application for membership in the European Union.

On an 85 percent turnout, the governing caretaker coalition of the two left-wing parties won 34 seats in the 63-seat legislature.

The Social Democrats saw a minor last-minute surge, winning 30 percent of the vote, or 20 seats - slightly higher than polls on Friday had predicted, while their partners to their left won 21.5 percent of the vote, or 14 seats, substantially less than the 27.4 percent they had predicted to win.

The centre-right Independence Party, viewed by voters as the architects of the country's economic collapse, saw its support drop to 23 percent, delivering just 16 seats, the lowest result in its history.

"The people of Iceland are settling the score with the past, with the neo-liberalism that has been in power here for too long," said the Social Democratic prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir after the vote, adding: "There is a demand for a change of values."

Symbolising the shift, the last prime minister, Geir Haarde, drummed out of his job by the self-styled Busahaldabyltingin, or Kitchenware Revolution, in January, was a former central bank economist, while the new prime minister had been an air stewardess and her finance minister and leader of the Left Greens, Steingrimur Sigfusson, a lorry driver.

The two left parties have reportedly enjoyed a good working relationship but are on opposite sides of the question of whether to apply for EU membership.

The Social Democrats believe the crisis, or kreppa, has taught them that their small economy will only be battered again and again if they do not seek the shelter of the 27-country bloc.

Ms Sigurdardottir has said she wants to begin the application process "within weeks" of the election.

The Left Greens, for their part, say the EU is too undemocratic and "neo-liberal", the very ideology, they say, that caused the crisis in the first place. They also fear loss of control over the country's natural resources.

The Independence party meanwhile has traditionally opposed EU membership as well, but analysts believe that this uncompromising stance has lost it the support of sections of the business community who agree with the new prime minister that there is no alternative to beginning negotiations with Brussels.

The EU itself has said that it would be happy to see the north Atlantic nation apply. The application would proceed rapidly, as the country already applies some 75 percent of EU legislation through its existing membership in The European Economic Area (EEA) along with Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Tough bargaining over Iceland's pristine fisheries is expected to be a major point of division - with 2011 expected to be the earliest possible date of admission.

Ahead of the elections, analysts puzzled over how such a major split at the heart of the governing coalition could be resolved.

However, taking into account the minor parties, the final seat tally shows a strong majority in favour of the EU.

The centrist Progressive Party, which recently changed its position and now backs applying for EU membership, won nine seats, and the Citizens' Movement, which grew out of the protests that led to the government resigning and also supports such a move, won four, giving the pro-EU fraction in the parliament a total of 33 seats.

The current coalition is unlikely to break up over the issue, but the Social Democrats have been given a clear mandate for negotiations.

Indeed, after the vote, the Left Green leader hinted that his party would be open to the launch of accession talks in order to maintain their relations with the Social Democrats.

The two parties however both back returning to the voters with a referendum on the issue ahead of any formal application.

Link

Yes i'll give her member-ship

Reykjavik - the EU has said that if it applied, Iceland could join the bloc by 2011 (Photo: Johannes Jansson/norden.org)


Iceland to table bill on EU membership talks

ELITSA VUCHEVA

Today @ 09:20 CET

Iceland is to ask its parliament to approve the launch of membership talks with the European Union, the country's prime minister announced on Wednesday (6 May).

"There will be a government resolution tabled [on EU talks]," Social-democratic prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir told Icelandic state television.

Sigurdardottir did not give any details on when the bill authorising the start of EU membership talks would be presented to the deputies, but it is likely to happen when parliament convenes next week, Reuters reports political sources as saying.

Iceland's new government was elected on 26 April, when the centre-left Social Democrats and far-left and ecologist Left Green Movement won a clear majority after 18 years of centre-right government, which voters blamed for the country's wrecked economy.

The Social Democrats are strongly in favour of Iceland's EU membership and when elected, Ms Sigurdardottir said she wanted to start the application process "within weeks."

The Left Greens, on the other hand, have been much more cautious, saying the EU is too undemocratic and "neo-liberal."

Earlier this week, Ms Sigurdardottir said she hoped the two parties could agree on the terms of a coalition by the weekend, with the EU issue being the thorniest in their talks.

According to Icelandic media, the parties would settle their different views on EU accession by letting the parliament – the Althing – deal with it.

But Left-Green leader and finance minister Steingrimur Sigfusson said that "nothing has been finally decided in this."

Meanwhile, many of the around 320,000 Icelanders have been warming up to the idea of starting EU membership talks in the wake of the global economic crisis.

A Gallup poll on Wednesday showed almost two thirds (61.2%) of Icelanders in favour of the move and 29.6 percent against, although the question of actual membership still divides them.

For its part, the European Commission has indicated that if Reykjavik applied for membership, its accession process would be short and it could become an EU member by 2011.

The country already applies some 75 percent of EU legislation through its existing membership in The European Economic Area (EEA) along with Liechtenstein and Norway.

"Iceland is one of the oldest democracies in the world and its strategic and economic positions would be an asset to the EU," enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said in January.

"If Iceland applies shortly and the negotiations are rapid, Croatia and Iceland could join the EU in parallel," he added.

Croatia is expected to end EU negotiations by the end of this year and join the bloc in 2011.

Link