Sunday

28th May 2023

Iceland in EU by 2015, prime minister says

Icelandic prime minister Halldor Asgrimsson has predicted his country will join the EU by 2015, sparking lively debate in the small island state.

"I foresee Iceland will be in the EU in the year 2015," the leader said at a meeting of the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce in Reykjavik on Wednesday (8 February).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I think the decisive factor for Iceland will be the future and the size of the eurozone. Decisions by the Danish, Swedish and British will have a serious impact on that," Mr Asgrimsson added.

Iceland is currently a member of NATO and the European Economic Area (EEA), a free trade zone that also includes Norway and Liechtenstein.

Sweden, Denmark and the UK are the only old EU member states that have stayed out of the euro.

Government spokesman Olafsson Steingrimur explained that the Icelandic crown is strong against the euro and the dollar, making it harder for Iceland to export fish.

The fish factor

Public debate about the EU in Iceland revolves around EU fishing quotas, which Iceland is free to ignore under the terms of the EEA.

Fishing accounts for 70 percent of Icelandic export income and 10 percent of its economy, while providing employment for one out of every 12 workers in the 290,000 strong country.

"There is always someone who says we can't do it [join the EU] because of fishing problems and then the discussion ends," Mr Steingrimur indicated.

Mr Asgrimsson's remarks have dominated headlines and TV talk shows on the island since Wednesday night.

The prime minister's liberal party currently rules in coalition with the larger Independence party which has stood against EU memberhip for the past 12 years.

Independence party member and foreign minister Geir Haarde indicated he did not see a reason to react whenever Mr Asgrimsson expressed himself on EU issues.

Real EU debate next year

The liberal prime minister, who stands low in public opinion surveys ahead of next year's elections, admitted that "We don't have the [right] political situation at the moment to take a decision on this."

But the government and the liberal party have each established separate committees to look into ways to protect fishing privileges in case of EU accession.

The results are due out in early 2007, with spokesman Mr Steingrimur saying "the real debate on the EU will begin next year."

Iceland cool on EU membership

Most Icelanders are opposed to applying for membership of the European Union, according to a fresh poll taken after the Icelandic prime minister said his country would become a member by 2015.

MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024

"This will be the first time a member state that is under the Article 7 procedure will take over the rotating presidency of the council," French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, the key lawmaker on Hungary, warned.

European Parliament scales back luxury MEP pension fund

The European Parliament's Bureau, a political body composed of the president and its vice-presidents, decided to slash payouts from the fund by 50 percent, freeze automatic indexations, and increase the pension age from 65 to 67.

WhoisWho? Calls mount to bring back EU directory

NGOs and lobbyists slammed the EU commission for removing contact details of non-managerial staff from its public register, arguing that the institution is now less transparent.

Exclusive

MEP luxury pension held corporate assets in tax havens

While the European Parliament was demanding a clamp down on tax havens, many of its own MEPs were using their monthly office allowances to finance a luxury pension scheme that held corporate assets in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and elsewhere.

Column

What a Spanish novelist can teach us about communality

In a world where cultural clashes and sectarianism seems to be on the increase, Spanish novelist Javier Cercas (b.1962) takes the opposite approach. He cherishes both life in the big city and in the countryside.

Opinion

Poland and Hungary's ugly divorce over Ukraine

What started in 2015 as a 'friends-with-benefits' relationship between Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński, for Hungary and Poland, is ending in disgust and enmity — which will not be overcome until both leaders leave.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us