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Accession of Iceland to the European Union

Accession of Iceland to the European Union
StatusCandidate
NationIceland
National DenonymIcelandic
Chapters Opened0
Chapters Closed0
National GDP PPP12,664
National Area Total103,001
National Population319,756

     Home | EU accession bid | Accession of Iceland to the European Union



Iceland applied to join the European Union on 16 July 2009. The application was accepted by the European Council on 27 July 2009 and referred to the Commission to analyse Iceland's preparedness for negotiations. The Commission announced in February 2010 that it supports the opening of accession talks with Iceland. Iceland's government has a target date of 2012 for joining the bloc, which will be subject to a referendum in Iceland. On 17 June 2010, the EU granted candidate status to Iceland by formally approving the opening of membership talks. Negotiations were started on 27 July 2010.

As part of the European Economic Area, Iceland is already a member of the EU's single market. It is also a member of the Schengen Area which removes border controls between member states.

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2009 elections and parliamentary debate :
Group Party Position Main argument as stated on party websites
Government Social Democratic Alliance   "We want to apply for an EU-membership and start negotiations. We will seek a national unity in this matter and use the national referendum as the highest court."
Left-Green Movement   "EU-membership would diminish the independence of Iceland even more than the EEA Agreement does and jeopardise Iceland's control over its resources."
Opposition Independence Party   "The Independence Party puts forth the clear demand that the application for Iceland's membership of the European Union will be withdrawn without delay."
Progressive Party   "..if personal and business rights were protected, especially in regard to fishing and agriculture; and if the accession talks were open and democratic."
The Movement  
No seats in the parliament Citizens' Movement  
Liberal Party   EU stance was decided in a party members' poll in January 2009.

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
Date Event
1 January 1970 Iceland joins EFTA
2 May 1992 Iceland signs EU Association Agreement
1 January 1994 EU Association Agreement entry into force
25 March 2001 Iceland joins The Schengen Area
16 July 2009 Iceland submits membership application
8 September 2009 European Commission presents legislative questionnaire to Iceland
22 October 2009 Iceland responds to questionnaire
17 June 2010 Iceland is officially recognized as candidate
27 July 2010 Membership negotiations start
15 November 2010 Screening process starts
17 June 2011 Screening process is expected to be completed

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
Acquis chapter EC Assessment At Start Screening Started Screening Completed Chapter Opened Chapter Closed
1. Free Movement of Goods No major difficulties expected 07.12.2010 08.12.2010 � �
2. Freedom of Movement For Workers Generally already applies the acquis 09.02.2011 09.02.2011 � �
3. Right of Establishment & Freedom To Provide Services Further efforts needed 09.12.2010 09.12.2010 � �
4. Free Movement of Capital Considerable efforts needed 10.12.2010 10.12.2010 � �
5. Public Procurement No major difficulties expected 15.11.2010 15.11.2010 � �
6. Company Law No major difficulties expected 16.11.2010 16.11.2010 � �
7. Intellectual Property Law Generally already applies the acquis 20.12.2010 20.12.2010 � �
8. Competition Policy Generally already applies the acquis 06.12.2010 06.12.2010 � �
9. Financial Services Generally already applies the acquis 18.11.2010 15.12.2010 � �
10. Information Society & Media Generally already applies the acquis 17.11.2010 17.11.2010 � �
11. Agriculture & Rural Development Considerable efforts needed 30.11.2010 27.01.2011 � �
12. Food Safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy Further efforts needed 14.02.2011 (31.03.2011) � �
13. Fisheries Considerable efforts needed 16.12.2010 02.03.2011 � �
14. Transport Policy Further efforts needed (04.05.2011) (09.06.2011) � �
15. Energy No major difficulties expected (12.05.2011) (17.06.2011) � �
16. Taxation Considerable efforts needed 03.02.2011 04.03.2011 � �
17. Economic & Monetary Policy Considerable efforts needed 17.03.2011 (18.05.2011) � �
18. Statistics Considerable efforts needed (02.05.2011) (07.06.2011) � �
19. Social Policy & Employment No major difficulties expected 07.02.2011 16.03.2011 � �
20. Enterprise & Industrial Policy Generally already applies the acquis (12.04.2011) (26.05.2011) � �
21. Trans-European Networks Generally already applies the acquis (06.05.2011) (10.06.2011) � �
22. Regional Policy & Coordination of Structural Instruments No major difficulties expected 31.01.2011 22.02.2011 � �
23. Judiciary & Fundamental Rights Generally already applies the acquis 11.01.2011 11.02.2011 � �
24. Justice, Freedom & Security Further efforts needed (14.04.2011) (24.05.2011) � �
25. Science & Research Generally already applies the acquis 25.11.2010 14.01.2011 � �
26. Education & Culture Generally already applies the acquis 26.11.2010 14.01.2011 � �
27. Environment Further efforts needed 22.11.2010 19.01.2011 � �
28. Consumer & Health Protection No major difficulties expected (11.04.2011) (16.05.2011) � �
29. Customs Union Further efforts needed 08.03.2011 (06.04.2011) � �
30. External Relations No major difficulties expected (08.04.2011) (19.05.2011) � �
31. Foreign, Security & Defence Policy No major difficulties expected (07.04.2011) (20.05.2011) � �
32. Financial Control Considerable efforts needed 29.11.2010 02.02.2011 � �
33. Financial & Budgetary Provisions No major difficulties expected 07.03.2011 (04.04.2011) � �
34. Institutions Nothing to adopt � � � �
35. Other Issues Nothing to adopt � � � �
Progress 24 out of 33 20 out of 33 0 out of 33 0 out of 33

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
Date Poller Question Yes No Unsure
August 2005 Capacent-Gallup for The Federation of Icelandic Industries Start negotiations 55% 37% 8%
Join 43% 37% 20%
Adopt Euro 37% 54% 9%
February 2006 Fréttablaðið Join 34% 42% 24%
September 2007 Capacent-Gallup Start negotiations 59% 26% 15%
Join 48% 34% 18%
Adopt Euro 53% 37% 10%
February 2008 Fréttablaðið Join 55.1% 44.9% -
More reasons than last year 54.7% 7.3% 38.1%
24 November 2008 Fréttablaðið Submit application 60% 40% -
January 2009 Join 38% 38% 24%
  Submit application 40% 60% -
March 2009 Start negotiations 64% 28% 8%
11 April 2009 Fréttablaðið Submit application 45.6% 54.4% 0%
5 May 2009 Capacent Gallup Start negotiations 61% 27% 12%
Join 39% 39% 22%
10 June 2009 Capacent Gallup Referendum on application 76.3% 17.8% 5.8%
30 July 2009 Fréttablaðið Start negotiations 51% 36% 13%
4 August 2009 Capacent Gallup Join 34.7% 48.5% 16.9%
15 September 2009 Capacent Gallup Join 32.7% 50.2% 17%
If referendum now? 38.5% 61.5% 0%
Happy with application? 39.6% 43.2% 17.1%
5 November 2009 Bifröst University Research Institute Join 29.0% 54% 17%
Start negotiations 50.5% 42.5% 7%
28 February 2010 Capacent Gallup Join 33.3% 55.9% 10.8%
5 March 2010 Capacent Gallup Join 24.4% 60% 15.5%
If referendum now? 30.5% 69.4% 0%
14 June 2010 MMR Withdraw EU application 57.6% 24.3% 18.1%
6 July 2010 Capacent Gallup Join 26% 60% 14%
2 September 2010 Capacent Gallup Start negotiations 38.8% 45.5% 15.7%
29 September 2010 Fréttablaðið Continue with negotiations 64.2% 32.8% 3%
24 January 2011 Fréttablaðið Continue with negotiations 65.4% 34.6% 0%
10 March 2011 Capacent Gallup Join 31.4% 50.5% 18%
If referendum now? 38.9% 61.1% 0%
17 March 2011 MMR Join 30% 55.7% 14.2%

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
Most northerly EU capitals Most westerly EU capitals Most distant from Brussels
Country City Coordinates Country City Coordinates Country City Distance
Iceland Iceland Reykjavík   Iceland Iceland Reykjavík   Cyprus Cyprus Nicosia 2906 km
Finland Finland Helsinki   Portugal Portugal Lisbon   Iceland Iceland Reykjavík 2132 km
Estonia Estonia Tallinn   Ireland Ireland Dublin   Greece Greece Athens 2093 km
Sweden Sweden Stockholm   Spain Spain Madrid   Romania Romania Bucharest 1773 km

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
Population Figures Population Density
EU Rank Country Population EU Rank Country Population Area (km2) Density
Iceland Iceland 319,756 Iceland Iceland 319,756 103,001 3.1
27 Malta Malta 416,333 27 Finland Finland 5,350,475 338,145 15.82
26 Luxembourg Luxembourg 502,207 26 SwedenSweden 9,347,899 449,964 20.77
25 Cyprus Cyprus 801,851 25 Estonia Estonia 1,340,274 45,226 29.64
EUEU Average 18,565,179 EUEU Average 18,565,179 160,177 115.9
2 France France 64,709,480 2 Netherlands Netherlands 16,576,800 41,526 399.2
1 Germany Germany 81,757,595 1 Malta Malta 416,333 316 1317.5

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
EU Ranking Country GDP per capita
1 Luxembourg Luxembourg $80,304
2 Netherlands Netherlands $40,777
3 Austria Austria $39,454
4 Ireland Ireland $38,685
5 Sweden Sweden $37,775
6 Denmark Denmark $36,764
Iceland Iceland $36,681
EUEU Average $30,237
27 Romania Romania $11,766

Opening and progress of accession negotiations :
EU Ranking Country GDP per capita
1 Luxembourg Luxembourg $78,000
2 Ireland Ireland $42,200
Iceland Iceland $39,600
3 Austria Austria $39,400
4 Netherlands Netherlands $39,200
EUEU Average $32,600
27 Romania Romania $11,500

Enlargement of the European Union

Previous1973 * 1981 * 1986 * 1995 * 2004 * 2007 * Statistics
CandidatesCroatia (status) * Iceland (status) * Macedonia (status) * Turkey (status)
AppliedAlbania (status) * Montenegro (status) * Serbia (status)
Potential (SAA)Bosnia and Herzegovina (status) * Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244) (status)



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