Hilmar Veigar abandons support for Iceland joining EU

Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of Fenris Creations, has changed his position on Iceland joining the European Union and says he is now preparing to vote against reopening talks with the bloc, mbl.is reports.

He spoke at an Áfram Ísland meeting on the future of innovation at Gróska on Wednesday afternoon.

“I am here 12 years later and on my way to voting no to this idea of talking to the EU again,” Hilmar Veigar said.

In his speech, he recalled that he had been a strong supporter of EU membership in 2014. At an industry conference that year, he said: “Let’s just join the European Union. Adopt the euro. This is incredibly simple.”

He said he had been frustrated with the situation in Iceland at the time, as the country’s most recent EU accession talks were coming to an end. He had discussed the advantages and disadvantages of membership and argued that the Icelandic króna was not serving the country’s interests.

Hilmar Veigar cited several reasons for his change of position, including what he described as burdensome EU regulations, strong growth in Iceland and other continents overtaking Europe. Icelanders, he said, needed to consider those developments when making decisions with long-term consequences.

He also discussed low economic growth within the EU and Europe’s reduced weight in the global economy this century. He said that trend was reflected in the declining role of European companies in international business.