Accession negotiations with Iceland get going

The negotiations on Iceland´s accession to the European Union will start at the Intergovernmental Conference on 27 July 2010, decided the General Affairs Council at its meeting on 26 July. The Council adopted the general EU position, including the negotiating framework.

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Iceland will not have a more favourable treatment than other candidate countries, but there is a chance that negotiations could run smoothly. As a member of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen cooperation, Iceland has already adopted a significant amount of EU legislation, said Steven Vaneckere, the Belgian minister of Foreign Affairs and acting Chairman of the General Affairs Council. But, he pointed out, in some fields (for example whaling or financial services) Iceland will have to make efforts.

Globally, the negotiations with Iceland could have a positive impact on the whole accession process, added the chief of the Belgian diplomacy. 

Iceland submitted its application to join the European Union to the Swedish Presidency on 17 July 2009. The European Council decided on 17 June 2010 that negotiations for Iceland´s accession to the EU should be opened. 

Iceland is a relatively large country (103,000 km², about the same surface area as Ireland), but is sparsely populated. The population is around 313,000, with only 3 persons per km².

In autumn 2008, in the wake of the global financial crisis, Iceland´s three largest private banks experienced major liquidity problems and were taken into government administration. The collapse of the banking sector, together with rapid depreciation of the Icelandic krona, brought about a deep economic and financial crisis. However, Iceland´s natural renewable energy sources, its marine resources, strong infrastructure and well-educated workforce provide a solid basis to overcome the economic difficulties and implement necessary reforms.

More information:
Council conclusions