Former minister warns EU talks cannot secure Icelandic exemptions

In a submitted article published by mbl.is, former member of parliament and minister Guðni Ágústsson says Steingrímur J. Sigfússon’s personal experience of Iceland’s European Union accession talks shows that permanent exemptions for Iceland’s key interests are not available.

Steingrímur, a former chair of the Left-Green Movement and a minister in Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir’s government, took part in accession negotiations with the EU in 2009. Ágústsson says Steingrímur experienced first-hand how difficult it was to seek permanent exemptions in agriculture and fisheries.

According to Steingrímur, progress was made in areas covered by the European Economic Area agreement because the talks mainly concerned the implementation of laws and regulations. Little or no progress was made, however, in areas involving Iceland’s most important interests.

Steingrímur wrote that, by the end of 2012, there was little indication that Iceland was making a breakthrough on its main negotiating objectives in fisheries, agriculture, regional affairs, animal health and plant health. The most important chapters remained unopened, he said, because the differences were greatest in those areas.

Ágústsson strongly criticises Þorgerður Katrín for claiming that Iceland can retain full control over fisheries and agriculture. He says that if this cannot be achieved, and the talks are abandoned or a membership agreement is later rejected by voters, Iceland could suffer significant damage.

He argues that the process would not only cost money but could divide the country, divert attention from urgent domestic issues such as interest rates and inflation, and create difficulties in Iceland’s relations with neighbouring countries in both the east and west.

Steingrímur wrote that the EU’s room for manoeuvre in negotiations is extremely limited. He said this was not because of ill will in Brussels, but because the existing member states would not support permanent exemptions for a new member from rules that current members had been required to accept.

He described such exemptions as highly unlikely, while also saying they would be the only visible route for Iceland to join the EU.

Steingrímur warned that the process could end without a result, either fading away or producing an agreement that Icelanders could not accept and would reject. Such an outcome, he said, could lead to strained relations with the EU for years afterwards.

Ágústsson says he fully agrees with Steingrímur’s assessment and urges the government to listen to his experience.