From Iceland — Icelandic Authorities Meet with British and Dutch Over Icesave

Icelandic Authorities Meet with British and Dutch Over Icesave

Published January 29, 2010

Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, along with the chairmen of two opposition parties, met with British and Dutch authorities in The Hague to discuss Icesave.
Vísir reports that along with the finance minister, Progressive chairman Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and conservative chairman Bjarni Benediktson were in attendance. At the time of this writing it is unclear whether the Social Democrats will also send a representative, but The Movement will apparently not. There, the Icelanders will meet with Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos and British financial services secretary Paul Myners.
RÚV reports that Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos does not want an intermediary party involved in any Icesave talks, but would rather speak directly with Icelandic authorities. He added that he is fully ready to do so.
This meeting, according to Fréttablaðið, is more to touch base and see what steps need to be taken in order to reach Icesave talks.
As it stands, a national referendum on the current Icesave law is scheduled to take place on 6 March, although that date may be pushed back if an investigative report on the bank collapse is released close to that date. British and Dutch authorities saying they are willing to go back to the bargaining table over Icesave could allow the Icelandic parliament to simply withdraw the law and begin discussions anew, saving Icelandic taxpayers the 200 million ISK the referendum is expected to cost, and which would lead to further talks with British and Dutch authorities anyway.

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