Brussels, 26/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Monday 26 July, the European Union officially decided to open negotiations the next day, with a view to Iceland's accession to the EU. The discussions are likely to be difficult over fishing and the dispute over Icesave.
At a press conference, the Belgian foreign minister, Steven Vanackere, declared that the accession negotiations opened with Iceland should “breathe new life into the entire enlargement process”. He added that the specific situation of Iceland, which is already “closer” to the EU, should be taken into account: “It is already a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), it has adopted certain elements of Schengen and it has made considerable progress on some of the Community acquis”, said the president-in-exercise of the General Affairs Council. “We anticipate that these talks will be useful. That said, the discussions will take place with the same care and the same seriousness as with any other candidate country”, said Vanackere. He acknowledged that there were “questions to be resolved”. Answering questions, the Belgian minister said that he was thinking more specifically of the “chapters on which the EU knows that efforts will be needed on Iceland's part, such as the environment, whale fishing, the financial sector and the Icesave affair”.
“Referring to the conclusions adopted by the European Council on 17 June 2010, the Council adopted the general EU position, including the negotiating framework, with a view to the opening of accession negotiations with Iceland. The Council is accordingly looking forward to the opening session of the intergovernmental conference on Tuesday 27 July 2010”, read the conclusions adopted by Monday's General Affairs Council.
Iceland applied to join the EU on 16 July 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis which pushed its views in favour of wanting to benefit from such things as the protection offered by the euro. Since then, the population's enthusiasm has cooled considerably. The French secretary of state for European affairs, Pierre Lellouche, told the AFP news agency that he “didn't at all get the impression from the surveys that the Icelandic people themselves are very favourable. This is the whole problem”. A number of governments of the EU share this analysis and are questioning the European Commission's eagerness to fast-track Iceland. The negotiations contain 35 chapters and problems can be anticipated over fisheries issues: Iceland wants to protect its cod fishing zones and continues to hunt whales. The issue of the Icelandic bank Icesave is another stumbling block. There is a dispute between Iceland on the one hand and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom on the other, over compensation for British and Dutch clients of the bank, which was hit hard by the financial crisis. This compensation has been covered by London and The Hague, which are now awaiting reimbursement. (L.C./transl.fl)