Ireland backs Icelandic EU membership for its own interests, ex-minister says

Ireland’s support for possible Icelandic membership of the European Union is driven primarily by its own interests rather than Iceland’s, former minister and former chairman of the Althingi Foreign Affairs Committee Björn Bjarnason told mbl.is.

Speaking on the latest episode of mbl.is’s Spursmál programme, Bjarnason discussed comments by Irish officials saying they would welcome Iceland restarting membership talks with the EU.

“The Irish want Icelanders to join because of their own interests, not ours,” Bjarnason said. He pointed out that Ireland is the only EU member state with a significant mackerel fishing industry.

In his view, Icelandic membership would bring decisions on mackerel and other shared fish stocks into the EU framework, where member states negotiate the allocation of fishing quotas among themselves.

Bjarnason questions the prospect of a fast track

Bjarnason noted that Ireland currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union and has said it would like to speed up an Icelandic application if it were submitted during its term. He said, however, that similar messages were heard when Iceland applied for membership in 2009.

He also said that discussion in Iceland paid too little attention to the situation within the EU itself. Many countries are already waiting to join, he said, noting that the EU has not expanded since 2013 and that applicant countries such as Montenegro have waited for years for their applications to advance.

Bjarnason rejected the idea that restarting membership talks would cost Iceland nothing. The public administration would have to devote considerable time and staff to the process, he said, and there was no reason to assume Iceland would receive faster treatment than other applicant countries.

He also questioned whether Iceland could rely on special arrangements for fisheries within the European Union.