Support for reopening EU talks falls as opposition gains

Support for reopening Iceland’s accession talks with the European Union has fallen to 52.2 per cent among decided voters, while 47.8 per cent plan to vote against it, mbl.is reported, citing a new Maskína poll.

The gap between the two sides is 4.4 percentage points and is within the poll’s margin of error. A total of 1,047 respondents expressed an opinion, with 546 supporting the proposal and 501 opposing it.

The gap was six percentage points in a poll conducted at the end of July, when 53 per cent said they would vote yes and 47 per cent said they would vote no.

Compared with Maskína’s poll in June, support for the proposal has fallen by 0.9 percentage points, from 53.1 per cent to 52.2 per cent. Opposition has risen by the same amount, from 46.9 per cent to 47.8 per cent.

Opposition is higher in every region outside the capital area. In Reykjavík, just over 61 per cent of respondents who expressed an opinion said they would vote yes.

In the latest poll, 13.1 per cent of respondents did not express a preference. Ten per cent said they did not know how they would vote, while 3.1 per cent declined to answer.

The poll was conducted from 7 to 11 August among 1,205 people. The referendum on whether to reopen accession talks with the European Union is scheduled for 29 August.