The Netherlands will take negotiations with Iceland over a bank debt dispute into account when considering Iceland's hopes to join the European Union, Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said on Saturday. Like all EU nations, the Netherlands can block Iceland's bid to join the group, which the island nation launched in the wake of the collapse of its financial system in 2008. The Netherlands and Great Britain want Iceland to repay more than $5 billion in compensation the two EU countries paid out to local savers in Icelandic online banks after the collapse.

On March 6th Icelanders go to the polls to vote in an historic referendum, The Economist reported in a commentary introducing a reader debate. They must decide whether to accept or reject a deal made by their government to repay to the British and Dutch authorities €3.9 billion ($5.3 billion) lost by British and Dutch savers in Landsbanki, a failed Icelandic bank. Arguments on both sides have been fierce.

Workers at General Motors Co.'s European arm, Adam Opel GmbH, produced a list of demands Tuesday for managers, aimed at minimizing job losses as the business undergoes a mammoth restructuring, Dow Jones reported. Members of the European Metalworkers' Federation and affiliated unions in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.K. gathered in Brussels to coordinate a response to measures drawn up by management to reduce a crippling overcapacity. Leading German trade unionist Klaus Franz complained at a lack of communication from GM. "There have been no discussions," he said.

Dutch startup Sellaband, which enabled music fans to invest in their favorite bands, last week on Friday requested provisional suspension of payments in their home country. It was promptly granted by an Amsterdam Court, and was this morning changed into full bankruptcy. The news of the bankruptcy led to a flurry of reports about Sellaband calling it quits for good – or as we like to say, hitting the deadpool, TechCrunch reported. Now it appears that there’s a chance the startup may live to fight another fight after all.

The Icelandic government said top officials from Iceland, Britain and the Netherlands would be joined by Icelandic opposition leaders at talks later on Friday on the so-called Icesave issue, Reuters reported. An Icelandic government official said Icelandic Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson, Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos and British Financial Services Minister Paul Myners would attend the talks, along with the leaders of Iceland's main opposition parties. "The purpose of the meeting is to exchange information and discuss the situation," the Icelandic official said by telephone.

When it comes to rescuing banks, the Swedes are earning a reputation as trendsetters. First they set a standard for recovering from disaster; now they want to export their idea for how to pay for it, The New York Times reported. The country went through its own crippling banking crisis during the early 1990s, after the bursting of a domestic credit bubble. It rebounded relatively smoothly through an aggressive bailout policy built around nationalization and carving the troubled assets of banks off into a so-called bad bank.

Iceland set March 6 as the date for a referendum on passing a law seen key to restoring its financial health after the Dutch government squashed hopes of a new deal to repay the island's creditors, Reuters reported. Iceland owes Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion for losses related to the collapse of the North Atlantic island's banks in late 2008. But earlier this month, its president refused to sign a law setting out repayment terms, forcing a referendum on the issue and putting on hold continued international aid for Iceland's stricken economy.

Icelandic pleas for further aid met with a cool response on Thursday as the IMF suggested its hands may be tied by an Anglo-Dutch debt impasse and Sweden signalled no immediate funds were on the way, Reuters reported. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said a solution for the so-called Icesave issue was not a condition for aid but the Fund still had to listen if members raised issues. "If a lot of members think we have to hold on, we have to hold on," Strauss-Kahn told journalists in Washington.

he Dutch Finance Ministry is not involved in renegotiation talks with the government of Iceland over its debts related to the collapse of online bank Icesave, a spokeswoman for the ministry said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Iceland plans to hold a referendum in the next two months on terms for paying back Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion for money lost in high-interest Icesave bank accounts during a financial meltdown in 2008. The two countries compensated savers in full and want their money back.

Iceland's efforts to join the European Union could be delayed by a referendum on terms for repaying Britain and the Netherlands following a banking collapse, the Spanish EU presidency said on Friday, Reuters reported. British and Dutch depositors in high-interest "Icesave" bank accounts lost their money when Iceland's entire financial system imploded in late 2008 under a heavy weight of debt. The government plans to hold a referendum on the issue late in February or early in March.