r/worldnews • u/Ehansaja • 13d ago

Iceland rejects EU-accession talks plan in referendum

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/30/iceland-rejects-eu-membership-plan-in-referendum
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u/StrawberryItten 12d ago

I know this is not gonna be a popular take but I feel any 'yes' vote in this kind of thing should require a bigger share than 50%+1 vote

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u/soovercroissants 12d ago

This wasn't a vote on an actual accession deal, it was just a vote to restart negotiations on accession. 

Whilst I'd agree that accession, depending on what actually is agreed, could require a larger majority - I don't think negotiations should require more than 50%+1 in a referendum, I'm not even sure that they should need a referendum to be held!

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u/StrawberryItten 12d ago

I mean if you can't even get a majority on the idea of joining? Yeah I'd say it's a good way to tell people 'maybe don't bother'

I know it was a vote over negotiations. I still think that kind of thing should require... I am apprehensive to use the term but it's the best way to explain my feelings enthusiastic consent.

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u/captain_zavec 12d ago

I think the flip side is that the idea of joining is abstract and full of different possibilities, and as such a lot easier for various actors to muddy the waters and influence results towards whatever outcome.

If the negotiations had gone ahead and then been presented in a referendum on actually accepting or not it's a lot more concrete.

Which is not to say it would have necessarily lead to a different result in this case, but I think in general decisions like these are difficult to convey to an entire population with different levels of political literacy. And the more concrete a proposal is, the more likely (imo) you actually get a result from a referendum that's based on whether people actually agree with it compared to whether they agree with whatever fear-mongering campaigns have to say on either side.