EU response on Iceland reforms sent after referendum

In an article published by mbl.is, Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson says the European Union deliberately withheld a response about Iceland’s legal and institutional changes until after the country’s referendum on 29 August.

A week ago, Guðmundsson asked the EU information service whether it could confirm that Iceland and the union had agreed during Iceland’s 2009 to 2013 application process that no changes to EU rules or institutions would be required until an accession treaty had been negotiated and approved.

He received a response shortly after 8.30am Belgian time on Monday. Although it did not answer the question directly, the response confirmed that the progress of the negotiations had been conditional on adaptation. Guðmundsson argues that this makes it clear that no such agreement existed, since otherwise no adaptation would have been required.

The response was prepared in consultation with the EU’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, the department linked to EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos. In an interview with Sýn on 22 August, Kos said that Iceland would not need to make legal changes until an accession treaty had been approved. Guðmundsson says those comments are inconsistent with both the response and other EU documents on the issue.

Requirements for legal and institutional changes

“Subject to the outcome of the referendum on 29 August, Iceland would not generally be legally obliged to implement EU rules, amend its constitution or transfer sovereignty during the accession negotiations,” the EU information service said. “Negotiations are a preparatory phase without binding commitments. However, the progress of the negotiations would be conditional on meeting benchmarks. These could include requirements for Iceland to introduce specific legislative and institutional changes before individual negotiating chapters could be closed, including demonstrating effective implementation where necessary.”

The response continued: “Full membership obligations, including the transfer of rights and obligations under the EU treaties, would only take effect once the accession treaty had been ratified, which normally requires approval in a referendum and approval by parliament. Iceland could also choose to implement certain elements of the EU rules before accession in order to facilitate the negotiations, meet the negotiating benchmarks and prepare for possible future membership.”

Guðmundsson says this is clearly inconsistent with Kos’s comments in the Sýn interview.

Response prepared before referendum

The EU information service’s website says that inquiries are generally answered within three working days. Guðmundsson says he had recently submitted another inquiry on a similar subject and received a response within that period.

He says the response was clearly available last week, before Saturday’s referendum, because it referred to the outcome of the vote as still pending. He also points to the fact that it was delivered early on Monday morning, shortly after the office opened.

Guðmundsson therefore concludes that the response was intentionally withheld until after the referendum. He says it is politically understandable that the EU may not have wanted to send it before Icelanders voted, since its contents contradicted Kos’s comments in the Sýn interview.