Iceland turns down Danegeld

Part of the EU's softening up approach to Iceland in advance of its referendum of EU membership has been turned down by the Icelandic Government. Leigh Phillips in the EUObserver is reporting that the 30 million Euro being offered by Brussels was seen as tainted.

the money was supposed to be going towards projects on statistics and preparation for participation in EU agencies as well as on various workshops and study visits.

The money was also to go to an information campaign by the EU to inform the Icelandic people about what it does.

The EU hasn't given up though and is trying to find ways of spending our money on convincing teh Islandics that joining is a good thing.

Enlargement spokeswoman, Angela Filote, denied that the IPA cash amounted to pro-EU propaganda, however.

"The pre-accession funding ... is made available to all candidate and pre-candidate countries," she said. "It provides an opportunity for the Icelandic partners to make use of EU expertise to facilitate considerations and support plans and preparations for potential EU membership."

"It is eventually up to the government in agreement with the commission to decide on what they want to use IPA funding for."

It is understood that the issue within the government is "a delicate one," according to sources close to the discussion. The commission says it is committed to finding a way that Reykjavik can use the funds that is acceptable to the government.

The news comes on the eve of the current commission's first report on the overall state of European Union accession negotiations.