Iceland, once keen on joining the European Union, now has officially cancelled its application.
The country applied for membership in 2009. At the time, the financial crisis had hit and the currency, the krona, lost nearly half of its value. The demise of US investment bank Lehman Brothers resulted in the collapse of three of Iceland’s largest banks.
Since then a new government has come into power, one which is more eurosceptic.
The foreign minister said that Iceland has informed the European Commission of its decision to annul its application.
“Iceland’s interests are better served outside the European Union,” the minister wrote on his website.
Iceland has said it wants to maintain “close ties and cooperation” with the EU.
The move should not have come as a surprise to the EU as the Iceland government last year said it was to drop its application, after having suspended talks in 2013. At the time, thousands took to the streets of Reykjavik to demand a referendum on the matter.
But in the meantime opinion polls have begun to show increasing resistance to joining the EU. It remains a member of the visa-free Schengen area and is part of the European Economic Area, allowing it to export seafood to Europe without tariffs.
Fishing quotas were always going to be a near-impossible subject to negotiate, given the importance of fishing to the country’s economy.
Comments
1. the country is not looking after more export or import of goods and services (due to the very low number of inhabitants) and 2. as the country lives by the massive fishing volumes it is clear that the tight EU rules will completely sufficate and dry out the country in the shortest way. Why should Icelanders jump in the deep with their eyes wide open ? Iceland is a fantastic country although having 2 major problems: 1. all the ressources come from the fishing and 2. the large majority of the people only work in the fish industry... and that creates massive "social tensions" with huge numbers of depressed (young) people and suicides as a result.
The EU is an exclusive club for failed and failing economies & those that wish to be further dragged down the slippery slope with them.
It can only be a matter of time before the wheels permanently fall off this misguided, grandiose vanity project.