Iceland wants to join EU if Icesave bill is thrown off the table

EU-Digest

Iceland wants to join EU if Icesave bill is thrown off the table.

Iceland's parliament moved into the final stretch of marathon debates on Wednesday over starting accession talks the European Union. If approved, the government motion would pave the way for an application to be sent to Brussels later in July, giving the coalition of the pro-EU Social Democrats and more EU-skeptical Left-Greens the go-ahead to negotiate an accession deal. "This is the best thing we can do to give the nation a future vision. I hope my colleagues will take note of the national interest when they vote this afternoon," Social Democrat MP Skuli Helgason told parliament.Observers say the Social Democrats, who hold 20 seats to the eurosceptic Greens 14 in the 63-seat parliament, could get two other pro-European parties, the Citizen Movement and the Progressive Party, to back their resolution.