EU accession talks focus on terms, not rewriting rules
Tuesday 25th August 2026 on 15:16 in
Iceland
EU accession talks are not conventional negotiations to decide from scratch which rules will apply, according to a new memorandum prepared for the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise and reported by mbl.is.
Óttar Pálsson, an attorney at LOGOS, and Stefán Már Stefánsson, professor emeritus, compiled the objective overview at the organisation’s request. It says applicant countries are generally expected to adopt the EU’s body of rules as it stands when they join.
The negotiations instead focus primarily on the terms of accession, including when and how the applicant country will adopt the rules and whether specific adaptations, transition periods or special arrangements can be agreed.
The framework, the EU’s joint negotiating position and the progress of the talks are largely dependent on the unanimous approval of all 27 member states. The European Commission plays a key role in preparing and conducting the negotiations, while the member states formulate and approve the EU’s common position in the Council.
Unanimous approval is required at nearly all key stages, meaning that a single member state can delay or halt the talks, the memorandum says.
Applicant countries have increasingly been expected to adapt to EU rules while negotiations are under way. This can involve legislative changes, institution-building, administrative reforms, action plans and other preparatory work.
The EU’s negotiating frameworks allow for specific adaptations and, in exceptional cases, temporary measures. Such measures must be limited in time and scope and cannot change EU rules or policies, undermine their effectiveness or cause significant distortion of competition.
Recent negotiating frameworks do not provide for permanent exemptions. The EU treaties do not rule out agreements on such exemptions, but the broader and longer-lasting the requested exemption, the more difficult it is expected to be to secure. Any such agreement would also require the approval of all 27 member states.