Hannan urges Iceland to reject renewed EU accession talks

British peer Daniel Hannan, who represented the Conservative Party in the European Parliament for more than 20 years, is urging Icelanders to reject the reopening of membership negotiations with the European Union. In an article published by The Telegraph, and reported by mbl.is, he says there is no apparent reason for Iceland to join the bloc.

Hannan describes the proposal to restart accession talks as strange in itself. Iceland’s gross domestic product per person is considerably higher than the EU average, he writes, meaning the country would become a substantial net contributor to the bloc’s common funds.

In support of his argument, he refers to comments by a Brussels official quoted by Politico, who said it would be convenient for Iceland and Montenegro to join on the same day because Iceland could pay for Montenegro.

Hannan says the debate in Iceland differs from the one held in the United Kingdom. In Britain, EU membership was primarily discussed in terms of market access, with around 40 percent of British exports still going to EU countries, although that share is declining.

Iceland, he writes, has no equivalent dispute because its membership of the European Economic Area has given it access to the internal market, except in agriculture and fisheries.

At the same time, Iceland is not part of the EU customs union and can therefore negotiate its own trade agreements with countries outside Europe. Partly through the European Free Trade Association, it has secured agreements with several countries where the EU has not, including China, Indonesia and Malaysia, Hannan writes.

Hannan identifies four changes that would follow if Iceland joined the EU. First, the country would begin contributing to EU funds. He cites calculations by US economist Dan Mitchell estimating the cost at the equivalent of 400 US dollars per Icelander, or more than 49,000 Icelandic krónur.

Second, Iceland would have to set aside its free trade agreements. Third, it would join the EU’s common agricultural policy, remove tariffs on goods from EU countries and raise them against the rest of the world.

Fourth, Iceland would join the common fisheries policy. Hannan says Iceland’s fish stocks would then be defined in EU treaties as a common resource to which all member states would have equal access.

“All four of these changes are clearly for the worse,” Hannan writes. “It is hard to see how even the most optimistic Europhile could sell them as improvements.”

He considers the fisheries issue particularly important in a country that defines itself as the only developed state where fisheries form a significant part of the economy.

Hannan says Icelanders probably have the best-managed fish stocks in the world, supported by an effective quota system that encourages conservation while allowing by-products to be used in cosmetics and medicines.

“Many Icelanders who have never set foot on a trawler nevertheless have a feeling that the icy waters of the North Atlantic flow in their veins,” he writes.