Iceland becomes first European country to sign free trade agreement with China

[bemildred]

Source: WaPo

BEIJING — Iceland on Monday became the first European nation to strike a free trade deal with China, offering hope for its recession-battered economy while giving Beijing a leg up in its drive for expanded influence in the Arctic.

The China-Iceland free trade pact will lower tariffs on a range of goods and is expected to boost seafood and other exports from the remote Nordic state to the world’s second-largest economy. It comes at the start of a five-day visit to China by Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir that highlights her country’s attempts to diversify an economy that was badly mauled by the bursting of a massive financial bubble in 2008.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Sigurdardottir the agreement was “a major event in China-Iceland relations.”

“It also signals the deepening of our relationship, especially our economic relationship which has been lifted to a new height,” Li said during talks following a formal welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in the center of Beijing.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/iceland-set-to-become-first-european-country-to-sign-free-trade-agreement-with-china/2013/04/15/6282da48-a5b4-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html

[aquart]

1. And they were doing so well.

[bemildred]

3. Geothermal power and aluminum production are not even mentioned.

Probably an oversight.

[pampango]

2. While Iceland's application to join the EU is still pending, it is part of the EU's internal market

and the Schengen Area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Iceland_to_the_European_Union

The European Union's (EU) internal market (sometimes known as the single market, formerly the common market) seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people – the EU's "four freedoms" – within the EU's 27 member states.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Market

[dipsydoodle]

4. They're inbetweeny.

From memory to finalise the EU application would require a referendum in Iceland. That's aside from them not being rejected by a single current member which isn't likely to occur now given that they're paying back the debts owed to UK and Holland.

The trade agreement with China may them encourage the to join the Euro which is a different matter from EU membership.

[pampango]

7. I know there may be roadblocks to Iceland joining the EU, but can it use the Euro without

joining the EU first? I thought that only EU members (some not all) used the Euro.

[dipsydoodle]

8. I hadn't realised there were blocks to a non EU country joining the Euro.

See : Enlargement of the eurozone.

Outside the EU.
>
Iceland

During the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, instability in the Icelandic króna led to discussion in Iceland about adopting the euro. However, Jürgen Stark, a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, has stated that "Iceland would not be able to adopt the EU currency without first becoming a member of the EU".[104] Iceland subsequently applied for EU membership. As of the ECB's May 2012 convergence report, Iceland did not meet any of the convergence criteria.[105] One year later, the country managed to comply with the deficit criteria and had begun to decrease their debt-to-GDP ratio,[10] but still suffered from elevated HICP inflation and long-term governmental interest rates.[6][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_eurozone#Outside_the_EU

I'm still not sure if that's a standard block but thanks for picking me on that.

[Paul E Ester]

5. Amazing what can happen when you tell the bankers to screw themselves and lock a few up..nt

[dipsydoodle]

6. Aside of course from the fact that isn't what actually happened

apart from a few of the directors of the banks they nationalised bing jailed for fraud.