Minister says parliament should approve Protocol 35 bill

Infrastructure Minister Eyjólfur Ármannsson says Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament, should approve a bill on Protocol 35 to the EEA Agreement, but he does not know whether the EFTA Surveillance Authority would withdraw its case before the EFTA Court, mbl.is reported.

Speaking during an unscheduled question session in parliament on Thursday, Ármannsson said the bill should receive parliamentary consideration and be approved. He expected the issue would then go to Iceland’s Supreme Court.

Sigurður Örn Hilmarsson, an MP for the Independence Party, asked whether the government should pass the bill this autumn or wait for the EFTA Court to rule. He also asked whether approval would lead the authority, known as ESA, to withdraw its case.

“I don’t know what ESA will do,” Ármannsson replied, adding that the question should be put to the authority, which would decide what happens to the case it brought.

Hilmarsson referred to earlier remarks by Ármannsson that the EFTA Court should settle a dispute over whether Article 3 of Iceland’s EEA Act is enough to ensure uniformity of rules across the EEA. Ármannsson said he had previously argued that the proposed change was incompatible with Icelandic domestic law, but that it was for the Supreme Court to decide whether legislation conflicts with the constitution.

Ármannsson also said that enacting Protocol 35 would not resolve every dispute over how the EEA Agreement is interpreted. “This is an interpretative rule; it is not a surrender of sovereignty,” he said.