Icelandic Economic Council
Minutes of the 13th meeting held online via Teams,Thursday, May 6, 2021, from 09:00-11:00

Attendees
Icelandic Economic Council:
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland
Bjarni Benediktsson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister of Infrastructure
Aldís Hafsteinsdóttir, Chairman of the Association of Local Authorities in IcelandÁsgeir Jónsson, Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland
Halldór Benjamin Þorbergsson, Director General of the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise
Drífa Snædal, President of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour
Sonja Ýr Þorbergsdóttir, President of the Federation of Public Worker UnionsJóhann Gunnar Þórarinsson, President of the Association of AcademicsRagnar Þór Pétursson, President of the Icelandic Teachers' Union
Other attendees:Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister of the Environment, Energy and ClimateÁsmundur Daðason, Minister of Social Affairs and ChildrenBryndís Hlöðversdóttir, Benedikt Árnason and Henny Hinz (Prime Minister's Office)Tómas Brynjólfsson (Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs)
Sigríður Halldórsdóttir and Halla Sigrún Sigurðardóttir (Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate)– Under item 1Karl Björnsson and Sigurður Snævarr (Association of Local Authorities in Iceland)
Rannveig Sigurðardóttir (Central Bank of Iceland)
Hannes G Sigurðsson (Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise)
Halla Gunnarsdóttir (Icelandic Confederation of Labour)
Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir (Federation of Public Worker Unions)Vilhjálmur Hilmarsson (The Association of Academics)
Oddur Jakobsson (The Icelandic Teachers' Union)
Sigurður Jóhannsson (The Economic Institute of the University of Iceland) – Under item 1
Hermann Jónasson, Anna Guðmunda Ingvarsdóttir and Þorsteinn Arnalds (The Housing and Construction
Authority) – Under item 2
Agenda item 1
Prime Minister's introduction
Agenda item 2
Climate change – Just transition1

Introductory address by Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister of the Environment, Energy andClimate.
Sigurður Jóhannsson, Director of the Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland, gave atalk on social justice and the cost-benefit assessment of climate action (see accompanying presentation)
Discussions afterwards.
Agenda item 3
Housing issues
Introductory address delivered by Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Minister of Social Affairs and Children.
Anna Guðmunda Ingvarsdóttir, deputy director of the Housing and Construction Authority, presented aprogress report on the government's efforts in housing matters in relation to the collective standard ofliving wage agreement and Hermann Jónasson, director of the Housing and Construction Authority,presented a report on the status and outlook on the housing market.
Discussions afterwards.
Agenda item 4
Unemployment insurance and labour market actions
Introductory address delivered by Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Minister of Social Affairs and Children(see accompanying memo to the Icelandic Economic Council from the Minister of Social Affairs andChildren).
Discussions afterwards.
Agenda item 5
Next steps and final words
The next council meeting is planned on September 2, 2021.
The council’s preparatory committee is tasked with further preparing discussions on the impact of global
warming on the economy and labour market using the ideology of just transition.

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