Three party leaders seek confirmation Iceland is not an EU applicant

The leaders of the Independence Party, the Progressive Party and the Centre Party have jointly proposed that Iceland’s status as a non-applicant country to the European Union be formally confirmed, mbl.is reports. They say no application for EU membership is pending.

The proposal asks parliament to instruct the government to notify the EU of Iceland’s position clearly and unambiguously, and then obtain written confirmation from the bloc to remove any uncertainty. The party leaders also argue that Iceland’s application was already withdrawn through letters sent to the EU in 2015 by the foreign minister and prime minister at the time.

Independence Party leader Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir said the proposal was a natural follow-up to a referendum in which voters rejected starting EU accession talks. She said the government should follow the public’s decision and withdraw the application.

Hafsteinsdóttir also questioned why the government had not withdrawn the application before submitting Protocol 35, which was being debated in parliament on Tuesday.

A statement on the proposal said Inga Sæland, education and children’s minister and leader of the People’s Party, had previously submitted a similar proposal during six parliamentary sessions, but it had not been advanced. Hafsteinsdóttir said she expected the People’s Party to support withdrawing the application.