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Iceland–European Union relations

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Accession of Iceland to the European Union
StatusCandidate
Application
Screened & negotiations commence
Chapters closed0
Memberships & Treaties
Association Agreement
Economic and monetary policy
Travel
Energy
Foreign and military policy
Human rights and international courts
International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Impact (27+1)
Population446,828,803
Area4,233,262 km2
1,634,472 mi2
HDI0.896
GDP (PPP)$25.399 trillion
GDP per capita (PPP)$56,928
GDP$17.818 trillion
GDP per capita$39,940
Gini30.0
Official Languages24
Politics of Iceland
Government
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Elections
Political parties
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
flag Iceland portal

Iceland applied to join the European Union on 16 July 2009.[1] The application was accepted by the European Council on 27 July 2009 and referred to the Commission to analyse Iceland's preparedness for negotiations.[2] The Commission announced in February 2010 that it supports the opening of accession talks with Iceland.[3] Iceland's government has a target date of 2012 for joining the bloc, which will be subject to a referendum in Iceland.[1] On 17 June 2010, the EU granted candidate status to Iceland by formally approving the opening of membership talks.[4] Negotiations were started on 27 July 2010. [5] As part of the European Economic Area, Iceland is already a member of the EU's single market. It is also a member of the Schengen Area which removes border controls between member states.

Background

Cooperation

Iceland is a member, since 1970, of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), along with Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has had bilateral free trade agreements with the EU[6] since 1972. In 1994, Iceland and its EFTA partners—except for Switzerland, which rejected the Agreement in a referendum—signed the EEA-Agreement with the EU, which was designed to allow the EFTA countries to participate in the European single market without having to join the EU. Finally, since 2001 Iceland has been a member of the border-less Schengen area.[7]

The EFTA Secretariat in Brussels reported in 2005 that Iceland had adopted approximately 6.5% of EU regulations as a result of signing the EEA agreement.[8] Through this, of the 35 membership chapters (which are required to be adopted before a state can join the EU) Iceland largely complies with 22.[7]

Iceland also participates in many EU programs (such as the Erasmus Programme) and several thousand Icelanders travel to and study or work in the EU. A large majority of the foreigners in Iceland likewise come from the EU. Furthermore, Iceland frequently aligns itself to EU foreign policy.[7]

Pre-2008 opinion

From 1995 to 2007 the government coalition of the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) and the liberal Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn), opposed joining the EU, while the opposition Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) supported membership negotiations.

Former Prime Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson predicted on 8 February 2006 that the country would join the EU by 2015. He added that the decisive factor would be the future and the size of the Eurozone, especially whether Denmark, Sweden and the UK would have adopted the euro or not.[9] His prediction received some criticism, not the least from people within his own government.[10]

Another former Prime Minister, Geir H. Haarde, has on a number of occasions stated his opposition to EU membership, both as Foreign Minister under Halldór Ásgrímsson and after taking office as Prime Minister. In response to Halldór Ásgrímsson's earlier prediction, Haarde said, "I don't share that point of view. Our policy is not to join in the foreseeable future. We are not even exploring membership." In a speech at a conference at the University of Iceland on 31 March 2006, Geir Haarde repeated what he had said on a number of occasions—that no special Icelandic interests demanded membership of the EU. In the same speech he further explained in detail why it would not be in the interest of Iceland to adopt the euro.[11]

Following the 2007 election, the Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance formed a new coalition with a policy of not applying for membership, but setting up a special committee to monitor the development within the EU and suggest ways to respond to that.[12]

Due to Iceland's limited currency, the government has explored the possibility of adopting the euro without joining the European Union. The EU, however, says that Iceland cannot join the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) without becoming a full EU member state (all other non-EU states do so because they previously used a member state currency that was replaced by the euro).

Negotiation progress

Acquis chapter Current situation Screening Started Screening Completed Chapter Frozen Chapter Unfrozen Chapter Opened Chapter Closed
1. Free Movement of Goods No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
2. Freedom of Movement For Workers Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
3. Right of Establishment & Freedom To Provide Services Further efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
4. Free Movement of Capital Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
5. Public Procurement No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
6. Company Law No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
7. Intellectual Property Law Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
8. Competition Policy Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
9. Financial Services Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
10. Information Society & Media Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
11. Agriculture & Rural Development Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
12. Food Safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy Further efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
13. Fisheries Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
14. Transport Policy Further efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
15. Energy No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
16. Taxation Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
17. Economic & Monetary Policy Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
18. Statistics Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
19. Social Policy & Employment No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
20. Enterprise & Industrial Policy Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
21. Trans-European Networks Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
22. Regional Policy & Coordination of Structural Instruments No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
23. Judiciary & Fundamental Rights Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
24. Justice, Freedom & Security Further efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
25. Science & Research Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
26. Education & Culture Generally already applies the acquis[citation needed] – – – – – –
27. Environment Further efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
28. Consumer & Health Protection No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
29. Customs Union Further efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
30. External Relations No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
31. Foreign, Security & Defence Policy No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
32. Financial Control Considerable efforts needed[citation needed] – – – – – –
33. Financial & Budgetary Provisions No major difficulties expected[citation needed] – – – – – –
34. Institutions Nothing to adopt[citation needed] – – – – – –
35. Other Issues Nothing to adopt[citation needed] – – – – – –
Progress 0 out of 33[13] 0 out of 33[13]

Effect of 2008 financial crisis

See also: 2008–2009 Icelandic financial crisis

At a meeting with members of his party on 17 May 2008, Geir Haarde said he believed the cost of joining the EU in his opinion simply outweighed the benefits and therefore he was not in favour of membership.[14] However, in October 2008, during talks to repatriate a portion of Iceland's foreign invested pension funds—Iceland having been particularly hard hit by the financial crisis of September 2008—the unions demanded that Iceland apply for EU membership in return for wage restraint.[15]

On 30 October 2008, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, minister of education said that "Iceland has to define its long-term national interests and part of that is a revision of the currency regime, including a possible EU application" and that application for membership needed to be discussed “in weeks rather than months”.[16]

Two weeks later, on 17 November 2008, the Independence Party announced it would hold its party congress in January 2009 instead of Autumn 2009, to reconsider the possibility of applying for EU membership; the Progressive Party also announced it would hold its party congress in January, after two anti-EU MPs (including the party leader) resigned and were replaced by MPs more positive towards EU application.[17]

The Progressive Party accepted at its congress to support application for EU membership but with very strict conditions including one demanding full authority for Iceland over its fishing grounds and other national resources.[18] When the government headed by the Independence Party dissolved in January the party decided to postpone its congress until March. The congress eventually decided an unchanged opposition to EU membership but also claimed that if the issue were opened by others both an application and a initial accession treaty with the EU should be put to a referendum.[19]

2009 elections change political parties' policy on EU

Iceland's finance minister, Steingrimur Sigfusson, ahead of the country's first elections since its banking system collapsed in 2008, stated that "any decision for Iceland to join the European Union and the single currency must be taken by its people, not one political party", on the subject that the issue of EU membership was the greatest threat to a stable coalition.[20]

The 2009 elections, which followed the Icelandic financial crisis, saw the Progressive Party switch to supporting EU membership but the Independence Party called for a referendum prior to the start of negotiations.[21][22][23] The Social Democratic Alliance made joining the EU a key issue in their campaign.[24]

After the win of the pro-EU Social Democratic Alliance in the 2009 election Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir spoke of an immediate application to the European Union and adoption of the euro within four years as a way to deal with the country's debt.[25]

In late April 2009, it was announced that the United Kingdom, a member state of the European Union with whom Iceland has had a long history of fishing and territorial water disputes, supported Iceland joining the EU.[26]

2009 Parliamentary debate

In early May 2009, it was leaked that the issue of application for EU membership would likely be left to the parliament, in which the Alliance, the Progressive Party and the Citizens' Movement together already had enough seats to approve the application.[27] Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the leader of the Progressive Party, strongly objected to the suggestion that his party would assist the government in this matter, however.[28] The anti-EU Left-Green coalition partner accepted that in spring 2010, the minister for foreign affairs would present to the parliament a bill on talks with the EU.[29]

On 10 May 2009, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir announced that the government intended to move towards membership more quickly than previously expected. She announced that a bill would be introduced in parliament on 15 May 2009, authorising the opening of accession talks with the EU. She also stated that she was confident that the legislation would pass, and that she had secured a parliamentary majority on the issue, despite the official opposition to talks by one of her coalition partners. She went on to say that she expected an official application to be submitted no later than July 2009. This seemed to leave Iceland on course to join the EU along with Croatia in 2011, as predicted by EU Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rehn. The government has stated that the issue will be put to a vote once an accession agreement has been negotiated.[30]

The motion to file an application for membership was officially introduced in parliament on 25 May 2009.[31][32] Voting was to have been held on 13 July, but was postponed until 16 July.[33][34][35] First, a proposal by the Independence Party to hold a referendum on the membership application was defeated by 32 to 30 with one abstention. Then the Social Democratic Alliance's proposal to apply for membership immediately was approved with a narrow majority of 33 to 28 votes with 2 abstentions.[36]

Political parties' stances towards membership application

Group Party Position Main argument as stated on party websites
Government    Social Democratic Alliance Yes "We want to apply for an EU-membership and start negotiations. We will seek a national unity in this matter and use the national referendum as the highest court."[37]
   Left-Green Movement No "EU-membership would diminish the independence of Iceland even more than the EEA Agreement does and jeopardise Iceland's control over its resources."[38]
Opposition    Independence Party No "The Independence Party puts forth the clear demand that the application for Iceland's membership of the European Union will be withdrawn without delay."[39]
   Progressive Party Yes "..if personal and business rights were protected, especially in regard to fishing and agriculture; and if the accession talks were open and democratic."[40]
   The Movement
No seats in the parliament    Citizens' Movement Yes [41]
   Liberal Party No EU stance was decided in a party members' poll in January 2009.[42]

Public opinion

Various polls have been taken on public opinion regarding starting accession negotiations, joining the EU and adopting the euro, thus joining the eurozone.

Date Poller Question Yes No Unsure
August 2005 Capacent-Gallup for The Federation of Icelandic Industries[43] Start negotiations 55% 37% 8%
Join 43% 37% 20%
Adopt Euro 37% 54% 9%
February 2006 Fréttablaðið [44] Join 34% 42% 24%
September 2007 Capacent-Gallup [45] Start negotiations 59% 26% 15%
Join 48% 34% 18%
Adopt Euro 53% 37% 10%
February 2008 Fréttablaðið [46] Join 55.1% 44.9% -
More reasons than last year 54.7% 7.3% 38.1%
24 November 2008 Fréttablaðið [47] Application 60% 40% -
January 2009 [48] Join 38% 38% 24%
[49] Application 40% 60% -
March 2009 [50] Start negotiations 64% 28% 8%
11 April 2009 Fréttablaðið [51] Application 45.6% 54.4% 0%
5 May 2009 Capacent Gallup [52] Start negotiations 61% 27% 12%
Join 39% 39% 22%
10 June 2009 Capacent Gallup [53] Referendum on application 76.3% 17.8% 5.8%
30 July 2009 Fréttablaðið [54] Start negotiations 51% 36% 13%
4 August 2009 Capacent Gallup [55] Join 34.7% 48.5% 16.9%
15 September 2009 Capacent Gallup [53] Join 32.7% 50.2% 17%
If referendum now? 38.5% 61.5% 0%
5 November 2009 Bifröst University Research Institute[56][57] Join 29.0% 54% 17%
Start negotiations 50.5% 42.5% 7%
28 February 2010 Capacent Gallup [58] Join 33.3% 55.9% 10.8%
5 March 2010 Capacent Gallup [59] Join 24.4% 60% 15.5%
If referendum now? 30.5% 69.4% 0%
14 June 2010 MMR [60] Withdraw EU application? 57.6% 24.3% 18.1%
2 September 2010 Capacent Gallup [61] Start negotiations 38.8% 45.5% 15.7%

Application for membership

To become a member, a country must first apply and then be recognised as a candidate country. For that to happen the country must satisfy the first of the Copenhagen criteria: it must be a politically stable democracy that respects human rights. Then negotiations will take place which will consider the country's fulfilment of economic criteria, the country's degree of adoption of EU legislation, and whether there shall be any exceptions.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has claimed that negotiations on an accession treaty would take less than a year, because Iceland has already adopted two-thirds of EU legislation[62] in relation to the EEA.[63] He has on other occasions claimed that the negotiations could take up to four years.[64] The EFTA Secretariat in Brussels, however, reported in 2005 that Iceland had adopted approximately 6.5% of EU regulations as a result of signing the EEA agreement.[65] It has also been pointed out that while the so-called "aquis communitaire" contains almost 100,000 EU legal acts, including around 25,000 regulations and directives, the total legislation in force in Iceland comprises only about 5,000 laws and regulations.[66]

On 30 January 2009 Rehn commented that Iceland could enter the European Union promptly in 2011, at the same time as Croatia, saying that Iceland is an old democracy but also that it should not get special treatment. Fishing quotas and Icelandic whaling may be the toughest issues in any such negotiations.[67]

On 16 July 2009 the Althing voted in favour of accession talks with the EU (with 33 votes in favour, 28 against, and 2 abstentions).[68] The head of the parliamentary committee on EU affairs, Árni Þór Sigurðsson, has stated that Iceland will not be ready to join the EU any earlier than 2013.[69] However the government stated that it planned to complete negotiations by the end of 2010.[70]

On 17 July 2009 the application for Icelandic membership of the EU was handed to the government of Sweden, which then held the presidency of the Council of the European Union, by the ambassador of Iceland in Stockholm.[71] The application was again handed over by the Icelandic foreign minister to the Swedish one in a ceremony in Stockholm on 23 July 2009.[72]

The letter of application was dated 16 July 2009.[73] The application was acknowledged by the Council of the European Union on 27 July 2009.[74]

Membership process and progress

Sweden, then holder of the EU presidency, announced that it would prioritise Iceland's EU accession process.[75] On 24 July, the Lithuanian Parliament unanimously approved and gave full support for Iceland’s membership application to join the European Union.[76] Later, on 7 July, Malta also announced that it supports Iceland's EU bid.[77]

In September 2009, the Spanish foreign minister visited Iceland to discuss the Icelandic application and the membership progress. Spain is the EU chairman in January-June 2010. On 8 September, the EU commission sent a list of 2,500 questions to Iceland about its fulfilment of convergence criteria and adoption of EU law. Iceland returned answers to them on 22 October 2009.[78] On 2 November, Iceland selected a chief negotiator for the coming membership negotiations with the EU: Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson, Iceland's Ambassador in Belgium.[citation needed]

In January 2010 the Icesave dispute became an issue. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands want the Icelandic government to repay them their costs incurred in covering their citizens' losses due to the bankruptcy of some Icelandic banks. If Iceland doesn't pay, obstacles to membership could be laid by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. If Iceland agrees to repay the UK and the Netherlands, the added debt will make it difficult to adopt the euro, a major reason for Iceland to join the EU, because of the convergence criteria. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who currently holds the Presidency of the European Union, has said that the Icesave dispute does not impact Iceland's application.[79] David Milliband, then British Foreign Minister, reaffirmed the UK's continued support for Iceland's EU application.[79] Additionally, the Dutch Foreign Minister has stated that while the opening of negotiations will not be blocked by the Icesave dispute, it must be resolved before Iceland's accession.[80]

In February 2010, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy recommended to the Council of the European Union to start accession negotiations with Iceland.[81] While it was expected that Iceland would be considered for official candidate status at the EU summit in March, this was delayed to allow the German national parliament, which has the authority to debate important EU policy such as enlargement before action is taken by the government, to consider the matter.[82] The German Parliament voted in favour of opening membership negotiations on the 22nd April 2010.[83] The European Council decided in June that negotiations shall start,[84] and on 17 June 2010, the EU granted official candidate status to Iceland by formally approving the opening of membership talks.[85] Negotiations for membership of the EU have started on the 27 July 2010.[86]

Comparison with other EU countries

If Iceland were admitted to the EU, on the contrary of territories[87], its capital Reykjavík would be both the northernmost and westernmost EU capital. The table below shows the coordinates of Reykjavík in comparison to other EU capitals:

Most northerly EU capitals Most westerly EU capitals
Country City Coordinates Country City Coordinates
Iceland Iceland Reykjavík 64°08′N 21°56′W / 64.133°N 21.933°W / 64.133; -21.933 (Reykjavík) Iceland Iceland Reykjavík 64°08′N 21°56′W / 64.133°N 21.933°W / 64.133; -21.933 (Reykjavík)
FinlandFinland Helsinki 60°10′N 24°56′E / 60.167°N 24.933°E / 60.167; 24.933 (Helsinki) PortugalPortugal Lisbon 38°42′N 9°08′W / 38.700°N 9.133°W / 38.700; -9.133 (Lisbon)
EstoniaEstonia Tallinn 59°26′N 24°44′E / 59.433°N 24.733°E / 59.433; 24.733 (Tallinn) Republic of IrelandIreland Dublin 53°20′N 6°15′W / 53.333°N 6.250°W / 53.333; -6.250 (Dublin)
SwedenSweden Stockholm 59°21′N 18°04′E / 59.350°N 18.067°E / 59.350; 18.067 (Stockholm) SpainSpain Madrid 40°23′N 3°43′W / 40.383°N 3.717°W / 40.383; -3.717 (Madrid)

If Iceland were to be admitted to the EU, it would be the smallest member state in terms of population. Since its area (103,000 km2) is close to the average for EU countries (165,048 km2), it would be the least densely populated country in the EU. The table below shows its population and population density in comparison to some of the other member states.

Population Figures Population Density
EU Rank Country Population EU Rank Country Population Area (km2) Density
Iceland Iceland 319,756 Iceland Iceland 319,756 103,001 3.1
27 MaltaMalta 416,333 27 FinlandFinland 5,350,475 338,145 15.82
26 LuxembourgLuxembourg 502,207 26 SwedenSweden 9,347,899 449,964 20.77
25 CyprusCyprus 801,851 25 EstoniaEstonia 1,340,274 45,226 29.64
European UnionEU Average 18,565,179 European UnionEU Average 18,565,179 160,177 115.9
2 FranceFrance 64,709,480 2 NetherlandsNetherlands 16,576,800 41,526 399.2
1 GermanyGermany 81,757,595 1 MaltaMalta 416,333 316 1317.5

Iceland’s GDP per capita is amongst the highest in Europe as is shown in the following table (according to the IMF and World Bank Iceland would however only be ranked 5th or 6th of 28 also behind Austria and the Netherlands respectively according to the World Bank also behind Sweden):[88]

EU Ranking Country GDP per capita
1 Luxembourg Luxembourg $78,000
2 Republic of IrelandIreland $42,200
Iceland Iceland $39,600
3 AustriaAustria $39,400
4 Netherlands Netherlands $39,200
European UnionEU Average $32,600
26 RomaniaRomania $12,000
27 BulgariaBulgaria $11,900

The Icelandic language would also be one of the smallest official languages of the EU in in terms of native speakers (together with Irish).

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Iceland applies to join European Union, CNN, 17 July 2009.
  2. ^ EU ministers put Iceland on road to accession, EUObserver, 27 July 2009
  3. ^ "Iceland EU bid gets European Commission support". BBC News. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  4. ^ U summit approves membership talks for Iceland; World News; 17 June 2010.
  5. ^ EU opens accession negotiations with Iceland
  6. ^ then called the European Communities
  7. ^ a b c Iceland´s home is in Europe, Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  8. ^ "Iceland only adopting 6,5 percent of EU laws through the EEA agreement". 5 September 2005. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  9. ^ Rettman, Andrew (9 February 2006). Iceland in EU by 2015, prime minister says. EU Observer.
  10. ^ Prime Minister Ásgrímsson as good as alone in his predictions. EU related news from Iceland, February 14, 2006
  11. ^ Slashing the rumours: Iceland is far from adopting the euro. Team. 2 May 2007
  12. ^ Iceland Mulls EU Membership, DW-World, 2007-05-24
  13. ^ a b Excluding Chapters 34 (Institutions) and 35 (Other Issues) since these are not legislation chapters.
  14. ^ Geir: Ég vil ekki ganga í ESB. Mbl.is 2008-05-17 Template:Is icon
  15. ^ Iceland moves to shore up economy. BBC News. October 5, 2008
  16. ^ "Iceland sees rift over EU membership" ft.com 30 October 2008
  17. ^ Independence Party to Form New Policy on EU. Iceland Review. 17 November 2008
  18. ^ [Framsókn vill sækja um ESB-aðild með skilyrðum http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2009/01/16/framsokn_vill_saekja_um_esb_2/] Morgunblaðið 16 January 2009
  19. ^ [Ályktun um Evrópumál http://www.xd.is/?action=landsfundur_2009_nanar&id=1007]
  20. ^ Johnson, Miles (24 April 2009). Iceland minister warns on EU. Financial Times.
  21. ^ Progressives support Iceland EU entry. Ice News. January 17, 2009
  22. ^ Iceland Progressives vote to back EU accession talks. Forbes. 16 January 2009
  23. ^ Iceland's biggest party wants two EU referendums, EUBusiness, 2009-03-28
  24. ^ Icelandic parties clarify EU positions ahead of snap polls, EUBusiness, 31 March 2009
  25. ^ Totaro, Paola (2009-04-27). "Iceland may join EU after left-wing victory". The Age. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  26. ^ Britain to Help Speed up Iceland’s EU Membership. Iceland Review. April 22, 2009
  27. ^ "Iceland prepares to launch EU accession talks | EU - European Information on Enlargement & Neighbours". EurActiv.com. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  28. ^ Ísland. "RÚV - Stjórnin ýti vandanum á undan sér" (in Template:Is icon). Ruv.is. Retrieved 2009-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  29. ^ 18:21 (2009-05-10). "Ákvörðun um ESB í höndum þjóðarinnar - mbl.is". mbl.is<!. Retrieved 2009-07-22. {{cite web}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  30. ^ "Europe | Iceland's PM to seek vote on EU". BBC News. 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  31. ^ "UPDATE 1-Iceland submits proposal to parliament for EU talks - Forbes.com". Forbes.com<!. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  32. ^ "EU accession bill reaches Iceland parliament | IceNews - Daily News". Icenews.is. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  33. ^ "Iceland's Urgent Bid to Join the E.U." TIME. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  34. ^ "Government split puts Iceland's fast-track EU membership on hold | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 13.07.2009". Dw-world.de. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  35. ^ "Iceland vote on EU bid delayed until Thursday — EUbusiness.com - business, legal and economic news and information from the European Union". Eubusiness.com. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  36. ^ "Online". IcelandReview. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  37. ^ "The Future of a Country – The Future of a Nation". Social Democratic Alliance. 12–13 April 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  38. ^ "Sjálfstæð utanríkisstefna, félagsleg alþjóðahyggja" (in Icelandic). Left-Green Movement. 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2008. Aðild að ESB myndi skerða fullveldi Íslands enn frekar en orðið er með EES-samningnum og tefla í tvísýnu yfirráðum Íslendinga yfir auðlindum sínum.
  39. ^ "Meiri vinnu, lægri skatta og heilbrigðari stjórnmál!" (PDF). Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  40. ^ "Progressives support Iceland EU entry". Progressive Party. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  41. ^ "Online". IcelandReview. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  42. ^ "Liberal Party rejects EU-membership" (in Icelandic). 14 January 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  43. ^ Meirihluti hlynntur aðild að ESB, Samtök iðnaðarins, 01.09.2005 Template:Is icon
  44. ^ Iceland cool on EU membership, EU Observer, 02.22.2006
  45. ^ Euro support in Iceland hits five-year high, SI(samtök iðnaðarins(Association for Icelandic industry)), 09.11.2007 Template:Is icon
  46. ^ Majority of Icelanders Wants to Join EU IcelandReview, 02.26.2008
  47. ^ Minnkandi áhugi á ESB-aðild
  48. ^ http://www.si.is/media/althjodlegt-samstarf/esb-almenningur-panelkonnun-2009-01.pdf
  49. ^ "Meirihluti andvígur ESB", Visir.is, 26 January 2009. http://visir.is/article/20090126/FRETTIR01/140609051/-1
  50. ^ "Bourse - Poll: 64% Of Icelanders Favor Talks On EU Membership". Easybourse.com. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  51. ^ Fækkar heldur sem styðja viðræður
  52. ^ Mikill meirihluti vill viðræður RÚV, 5.06.2009
  53. ^ a b Meirihluti vill þjóðaratkvæði um aðildarumsókn Cite error: The named reference "Morgunblaðið" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  54. ^ Majority for EU application
  55. ^ Most Icelanders opposed to EU membership
  56. ^ 29% vilja ganga í ESB
  57. ^ Könnun: ESB yrði kolfellt í kosningum
  58. ^ Pressan.is | Ný könnun Bændasamtakanna: Meirihluti svarenda andvígur aðild að ESB / 33% hlynntir
  59. ^ Gallup poll for SI
  60. ^ Meirihluti vill draga umsókn um aðild til baka
  61. ^ Ný könnun: Stuðningur við aðildarviðræður við ESB fer vaxandin
  62. ^ Iceland could 'quickly' join the EU if requested: Commissioner
  63. ^ "Iceland's European Committee in Brussels". Iceland Review. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  64. ^ "Olli Rehn um ESB-aðilt". Icelandic National Television. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  65. ^ "6,5% af ESB-gerðum tekin inn í EES-samninginn síðasta áratug". Morgunblaðið. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  66. ^ "Has Iceland really adopted two-thirds of EU legislation?". Euobserver.com. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  67. ^ "EU lupaa Islannille nopean jäsenyyden ilman erikoiskohtelua". Helsingin Sanomat. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  68. ^ "Iceland's parliament votes in favour of EU talks". Euractiv.com. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  69. ^ "Europe | Iceland moves towards joining EU". BBC News. 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  70. ^ "Iceland says ready to complete EU talks by 2011 | EU - European Information on Enlargement & Neighbours". EurActiv.com. 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  71. ^ "Application sent to Stockholm for Iceland to join the EU | IceNews - Daily News". Icenews.is. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  72. ^ Iceland submits EU membership bid
  73. ^ The application letter itself
  74. ^ "CONSILIUM - Homepage". Consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  75. ^ "Online". IcelandReview. 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  76. ^ The Lithuanian Parliament supports Iceland’s EU Membership | IceNews - Daily News
  77. ^ DI-VE - News Details
  78. ^ Iceland returns EU questions
  79. ^ a b Skarphedinsson and Moratinos: Icesave has no impact on EU’s treatment of application
  80. ^ http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/dutch-vow-not-block-iceland-s-eu-talks-news-358341
  81. ^ Commission Opinion on Iceland's application for membership of the European Union
  82. ^ http://www.theparliament.com/no_cache/latestnews/news-article/newsarticle/lisbon-treaty-delays-iceland-eu-bid/
  83. ^ http://icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=361331
  84. ^ Commission welcomes European Council's decision to open accession negotiations with Iceland
  85. ^ U summit approves membership talks for Iceland; World News; 17 June 2010.
  86. ^ http://euobserver.com/9/30539
  87. ^ |url = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_European_Union/ Geography of the European Union
  88. ^ "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2010-05-15.

Lobbyist organisations

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