The Minister of Justice has set an official date for the national referendum on the current Icesave law to be held. By her ruling, it will take place 6 March. For those not living in Iceland, the date is from 28 January until 6 March.
Parliament passed a law outlining the guidelines of how a referendum will be conducted earlier this month. It is estimated that it will cost 200 million ISK.
British and Dutch authorities have said that they will not re-negotiate the terms of an Icesave deal until the ruling coalition can establish a more solid consensus of support. The government had been in talks with opposition party chairmen in hopes of achieving just that, but in the end the only thing that could be agreed on was that a multi-partisan committee should oversee talks with British and Dutch authorities.
If the Icesave law is defeated by referendum, re-negotiations with British and Dutch authorities will have to take place anyway, after a new Icesave proposal is drafted by the Icelandic parliament.