Iceland review - 2014, Side 67

ICELAND REVIEW 65
it has now been half a decade since iceland made its appli-
cation for european union membership. The discussion
in iceland about the eu and the accession process took an
unexpected turn at the end of February 2014, thanks to a pro-
posal from the Minister for Foreign Affairs for an immediate
and permanent dissolution of the membership negotiations.
After the general election of 2013 it became clear that
there was a sizeable parliamentary majority against continu-
ing the accession talks. Both ruling coalition parties—the
independence party and the progressive party—and all their
leading figures in the government are in agreement on this.
on the other hand, there are several things in both parties’
political manifestos, not least in speeches made by their leaders
in last year’s election battle, which give the public reason to
believe that their plan was to allow the people a voice on the
issue in a referendum.
This has resulted in widespread misunderstanding and
infighting in the country, and many who voted for the govern-
ing parties, especially the independence party, are expressing
disappointment at their party leadership’s support for the for-
eign minister’s proposal.
sHiFts in PuBLic oPinion
previous years have seen significant shifts in public opinion in
iceland about the nation’s possible accession to the european
union. Many voters are still undecided and waiting for the
possible special provisions many believe the icelanders could
negotiate into an accession treaty. This was, for example, obvi-
ous in the declaration made on the subject by the progressive
party conference in 2009.
The public are split into three groups in their opinion on
icelandic eu accession. A small majority have been against
With the government’s intent to
terminate the negotiation process,
the nation is once again up in arms
when it comes to the question of all
questions: Should Iceland join the
European Union?