PM of Iceland met with Barroso and Rehn in Brussels

Ms. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland met today with Mr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and Mr Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement and Commissioner Designate for Economic and Monetary Affairs.

At the meeting the Prime Minister gave a detailed account of the state of affairs in Iceland. Discussion centred in particular around the Icesave issue and relations between Iceland and the IMF. The PM underlined potential unfortunate and damaging effects of any link made by Member States between the Icesave issue and the second review of Iceland's economic programme with the IMF. She explained that many Icelanders believed that they were the victims of imperfect EU legislation and that many believed the burden to be unfairly distributed between the three countries involved. The Prime Minister also emphasised that the IMF loans and related loans from the Nordic countries and others were an important basis for the rebuilding of Iceland's economy. The state of play in the accession process with the EU was also discussed and the PM emphasised that the issue should be processed in line with normal procedures.

“It was a very good meeting in which we discussed frankly the Icesave issue and the situation in Iceland. It is extremely important to explain to key players in the EU the situation in which Icelanders find themselves and to explore all possible avenues for solutions and of course everything was on the table,” said the Icelandic PM.

The Prime Minister also had meetings with the heads of EFTA and the EFTA Surveillance Authority in Brussel.

Reykjavík February 4th 2010