Hilmar says EU process would cost Iceland attention

The biggest cost of a new process for Iceland to join the European Union would not be financial, but the attention it would divert from other projects, entrepreneur and Fenris executive Hilmar Veigar Pétursson told mbl.is.

“You only have so much attention. What you pay attention to grows, while what you do not pay attention to withers,” Hilmar said on the Spursmál programme.

He said Iceland was at an important turning point in developing its intellectual property industry and that the government should focus its efforts on that sector rather than on an EU accession process lasting several years.

“I think this whole European package debate is completely scattering our efforts. It is not that important, but it will take an enormous amount of attention,” he said.

A “insanely complicated” process

Hilmar referred to Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s comments that applying for EU membership would be “insanely complicated.”

He outlined a possible scenario in which the nation became almost evenly divided, negotiations continued for years, and Icelanders went through several referendums and parliamentary elections before a conclusion was reached.

In the meantime, he feared that other important projects would be pushed aside.

“That is where the attention deficit comes in. It would simply happen half-heartedly, which is really just doing nothing,” he said.

“There is no going back”

Hilmar, who previously supported EU membership, also said he believed joining would effectively be irreversible.

“If you go in, I think it is fairly clear that we would not leave again,” he said, referring in part to Britain’s experience.

He also compared the European Union to a “Chinese finger trap,” in which responses to the system’s complexity lead to ever-greater integration.

For Hilmar, the choice is therefore not only about the European Union, but also about where Iceland directs its energy in the coming years.

“It seems obvious to me that we should throw ourselves into the other option. There is a plan. I am in,” he said.