Faroes must become independent to secure better market access

Former prime minister Jóannes Eidesgaard says the Faroe Islands will not secure significantly better market access in the European Union or elsewhere until they can negotiate as an independent country, Kringvarp Føroya reported.

Eidesgaard made the comments while appearing as a political commentator on the Breddin programme, which discussed a meeting between Faroese Prime Minister Beinir Johannesen and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Greenland.

He said the Faroese reasons for seeking closer ties with the EU were entirely different from those in Iceland, which has just held a referendum on the issue. Iceland does not have problems with market access, he said, but faces issues including inflation, an unstable currency and high interest rates. Those conditions are satisfactory in the Faroes, while market access is the major problem there, according to Eidesgaard.

Niels Winther, director of the Faroese Business Association, also said that no progress had been made towards securing better market access in the EU.