Brussels, 24/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 21 February, Iceland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson announced that Iceland was going to withdraw its application for EU accession without holding a referendum, as initially planned. A draft law from the Progress Party (Centre) and the Independence Party (Right) calls on the government “to withdraw the application for accession to the EU” - an application that was submitted in 2010. “Such a draft law will be my responsibility. The foreign affairs minister at the time presented the application draft. It is therefore normal that I present the draft for withdrawing it”, said Sveinsson on Icelandic public television channel Ruv.
Iceland will ratify its application without the referendum initially promised by the two Eurosceptic parties in power, said the Icelandic government. Had a referendum been held, the a vote not to continue accession negotiations was expected. “No other application will be submitted without first holding a referendum”, the draft law states. The leader of the Independence Party, Ragnheidur Rikhardstsdottir, regretted that there was no referendum. “I would have liked a different outcome. But the parliamentary group decided to withdraw the application in this way”, she said, as quoted on news website Visir.is.
The European Commission “takes note of the intention of the Icelandic government to submit a motion to the parliament to withdraw the application for membership to the EU”, Peter Stano, the spokesperson for Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle, told EUROPE. “As we have previously said, the decision whether to seek membership of the EU is up to Iceland”, he said.
The negotiations with Iceland were suspended in January 2013. One of the main points of disagreement between the EU and Iceland is fishing. Iceland is, however, associated to the EU through the Schengen Convention and the European Economic Area. (CG/transl.fl)