Brussels, 15/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 14 January, the Icelandic government announced a slowdown in the pace of accession negotiations with the EU due to the upcoming parliamentary elections on 27 April. “We knew, when we finished the main part of the work in December and opened six difficult chapters, that we were going to slow down the accession negotiations in order to leave the campaign the room it needs”, Icelandic Foreign Affairs Minister Össur Skarphedinsson told the Icelandic press agency RUV.
No new chapter is due to be opened before the end of the electoral process. The Icelandic government said in a press release that work on Iceland's position on the agriculture and fisheries chapters - which have not yet been opened - as well as on two other chapters linked to fisheries, remains unfinished and will be stopped. Discussions with the EU on the open chapters will continue “but no decision will be taken by the government or parliament” before the elections, Skarphedinsson stated, adding that it was a question of “preparing” these chapters “in order to be able to close them later this year” (our translation).
Peter Stano, the spokesperson for European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle, told EUROPE that the Commission had “taken note of the Icelandic government's intention not to adopt any further negotiation positions before the parliamentary elections”. “The Commission continues to be convinced that the EU accession of Iceland would be of mutual benefit and remains committed to accompanying Iceland on its path towards EU membership”, he added. Six new negotiation chapters were opened on 18 December (see EUROPE 10754). In total, 27 out of 35 chapters are open, including 11 chapters that are provisionally closed. (CG/transl.fl)