Iceland's EU bid, presented last July, received a positive response as the Nordic country is seen as meeting the political criteria set by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993. The European Council therefore decides that accession negotiations should be opened, the draft reads.
Miguel Angel Moratinos, foreign minister of Spain, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, confirmed that his colleagues meeting in Luxembourg yesterday (14 June) had agreed in principle to open negotiations with Iceland.
EU leaders mention that Iceland will be under scrutiny for "areas of weakness identified in the Commission's Opinion, including in the area of financial services".
Compared to other EU hopefuls, Iceland's EU bid is generally seen as unproblematic. However, a number of issues could become stumbling blocks in the accession negotiations.
One important area of contention is Icelandic fisheries policy, with sources telling EurActiv that Iceland's position could affect its EU entry negotiations. Seafood accounts for almost half of Iceland's exports and 10% of its gross domestic product.
Bilateral disputes with Britain and the Netherlands cannot be ruled out either. In March, Icelanders rejected in a referendum the ratification of a deal aimed at repaying Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion that remains outstanding following the country's banking collapse (EurActiv 08/03/10).
Some 300,000 people in Britain and a total of 128,000 people in the Netherlands lost a considerable amount of their savings after the collapse of Landsbanki in September 2008.
London offers assurances
Britain "will not block the start of Iceland's accession negotiations, but we will want it to be clear at the start that Iceland is committed to resolving its financial and legal obligations," UK Foreign Minister William Hague said in Luxembourg, quoted by DPA.
The Netherlands had already announced it would not block the start of Iceland's accession talks with the European Union, despite an ongoing dispute over repayment of lost bank savings (EurActiv 19/03/10).
Meanwhile, Icelandic public opinion represents another challenge. A series of polls carried out between August 2005 and September 2009 by various survey groups show that although there is support for starting accession negotiations, the majority of Icelanders consistently oppose full membership.
This could turn out to be an insurmountable threshold if the Independence Party's desire to put Icelandic EU membership to a referendum were to see the light.
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