Iceland’s lawmakers on Thursday approved plans for an August 29 referendum on whether to restart European Union membership negotiations, backing the government’s two-phase strategy that could result in the Nordic nation joining the 27-member bloc within this decade.
The island nation withdrew from EU negotiations in 2013 following four years of discussions when a Eurosceptic administration came to power, but rising living costs and the conflict in Ukraine have reignited public interest in union membership, according to polling data.
Should citizens vote to resume negotiations, the ultimate terms of EU membership would need approval through a second referendum, while a negative vote would halt any efforts to restart discussions, government officials have stated.
Many citizens remain undecided about EU membership and may find reassurance in the two-phase approach, according to Olafur Thordur Hardarson, a professor of political science at the University of Iceland.
“The large proportion that has not finally decided if they want to join or not, many of them, of course, want the (first)referendum because they want to see exactly what terms would be in a potential agreement,” he said.
EU membership for this nation of approximately 400,000 residents would expand the union’s presence deep into the North Atlantic Ocean during a period when U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to control Greenland, an island situated between Iceland and the United States.
“Even though Iceland of course is a very small country, putting Iceland on the EU map would sort of have a symbolic advantage,” Hardarson said.
In Iceland’s 63-member national parliament, the Althingi, 34 lawmakers supported the referendum while 8 opposed it. Fourteen members chose not to vote, and 7 were not present, the parliament’s secretary general reported.
Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir told Reuters in March that she remained hopeful Iceland could achieve EU membership as soon as 2028, anticipating that fisheries and agriculture would present the most challenging negotiation topics.
