The European Movement in Ireland recently had the chance to ask Andrés Pétursson, President of the EM in Iceland, about the recent economic and financial situation in Iceland. Please find the questions of the European Movement in Ireland and Andrés Pétursson interesting answers below. Those certainly indicate the situation in Iceland very real. 
Andrés, what did it feel like to have your currency devalue like that?
We in Iceland are used to quite high fluctuation of our currency but this was out of all proportion. This crash was a big shock to all the population because we thought that Iceland’s economic "miracle" would never stop. In some ways it is like loosing a friend in an accident. First you do not believe that this has happened, then you get angry, then you think, “why did this not happen to somebody else" but now we are slowly realising that we are in the middle of major crisis and we have not even hit the bottom yet. In a nutshell, this has been a major blow to our esteem and self-confidence as a nation.

What is the mood up there?
The mood is rather pessimistic. Massive protests have brought down the government but the new one was only an “interim" government until the elections last week. I think it is going to get worse before it gets better.

We keep hearing that there is now a bit more of a discussion about joining the EU, is that true?
Yes, there is a strong demand for EU membership. My prediction is that Iceland will send an application in late August, or the beginning of September. The new government is trying to find a compromise solution between the two government parties how we can apply for membership.  The Social Democrats are very strict that we should apply but the Left Green are against it. But if these two parties are to form a government then we have to find a way to apply in one way or another.

Would being in the Euro have made much of a difference?
YES!! It would maybe not have saved all the banks but it would have made a big difference for the general economical situation in Iceland.  Hopefully we in the European Movement in Iceland can convince the government to apply for membership and then the public to vote “YES" in the membership election.