Icelandic MP urges voters to protect EEA agreement

In an opinion article published by Morgunblaðið, Independence Party MP Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir argues that Iceland should avoid jeopardising its European Economic Area agreement and says she will vote no in the 29 August referendum on negotiations over EU membership.

Einarsdóttir writes that she repeatedly hears from parliamentarians in EU member states that Iceland does not pay enough for the EEA agreement and receives too much in return. She says the arrangement benefits both sides, as EU countries are Iceland’s main import markets, while imports from Iceland are also important to them.

She argues that EU member states must accept unpopular, unsuccessful and sometimes poor EU regulations, including rules concerning illegal immigrants and agriculture. Wealthier EU countries also pay large sums to the union beyond the funding they receive in return, she writes.

Claims about Iceland’s role in the EEA

Einarsdóttir says the campaign ahead of the referendum has exposed what she calls “blatant propaganda” by supporters of EU membership against the EEA agreement. She argues that those who want Iceland to join the EU ultimately want the EEA agreement terminated, despite claiming to support EEA cooperation.

She says EU supporters have repeated claims that Iceland has already adopted between 75 and 80 per cent, or even most, of EU legislation. They have also argued that Iceland has no influence in EEA cooperation, she writes, contrary to information on the Icelandic government’s EEA website.

According to a 2018 report by Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Iceland had adopted 13.4 per cent of EU legislation through the EEA at that time, Einarsdóttir says. The proportion has increased somewhat since then, she adds.

She also argues that Iceland has many opportunities to protect its interests and influence legislation through EEA cooperation, but that it is up to Iceland to use them.

“A risky path”

Although the EEA agreement is not without flaws, Einarsdóttir describes it as Iceland’s most important trade agreement. Through it, Iceland has access to a market of more than 450 million people and valuable European cooperation without having to adopt regulations that may be burdensome or poorly suited to Iceland, including rules on fisheries and agriculture.

Former Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde has warned in an article in Morgunblaðið that the government’s EU initiative could undermine EEA cooperation. Einarsdóttir says she agrees that this is a risky path for an arrangement that, in her view, is not the EU member states’ preferred form of cooperation with Iceland.

“I want to protect the EEA agreement and will therefore vote no on 29 August,” she writes.