Iceland MP says EU application must eventually be withdrawn

Dagbjört Hákonardóttir, a member of Iceland’s Social Democratic Alliance and the foreign affairs committee, says the country’s application to join the European Union will eventually have to be withdrawn, mbl.is reports.

She said there was no need to rush the decision in the coming days or weeks. It should follow a careful discussion within the parliamentary parties, taking various interests into account.

Hákonardóttir said she had not decided when the timing would be most appropriate, adding that national economic interests should guide the decision. She said predictability was important and agreed with the chair of the foreign affairs committee that a clear timetable was needed.

She also supported the foreign minister’s view that withdrawing the application would make the process longer and more difficult for future governments that might want to pursue EU membership.

However, Hákonardóttir said it was equally important for people to have predictability and for Icelanders to know where they wanted to go as a nation. In the broader context, she considered the status of the application a secondary issue. The most important question was how Iceland would honour the European Economic Area Agreement and ensure that its voice was heard in the international community.

She said the result of the referendum was clear and that there was no need to hurry a decision on the application’s status. The current government would not apply for EU membership during the present parliamentary term, she said, and there was no indication that political agreement on that course would emerge in the near future.

Discussion about what should happen after the current parliamentary term was not the task at hand, she said. Elections would be held at the end of the term, after which political parties would begin a new debate about Iceland’s direction in Europe.