Iceland government will not withdraw EU membership application

Iceland’s government will not withdraw the country’s application to join the European Union, but it will not pursue or complete the accession process, Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said in parliament, according to mbl.is.

The issue was raised by Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, leader of the Centre Party, during an unscheduled question session at the Althingi on Monday.

Sigmundur referred to repeated questions from opposition MPs last week about the status of Iceland’s 2009 EU membership application. Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir had said its status was unchanged without specifying what that status was.

Sigmundur noted that Iceland does not appear on the European Union’s list of candidate countries and asked Frostadóttir to confirm that Iceland was not an applicant for EU membership.

Frostadóttir said the government had made clear that the outcome of the vote would be respected and that it would not spend any more of its term on the EU accession process.

“There will be no pursuit of an agreement, and it will not be completed,” Frostadóttir said. She added that Iceland’s position towards the EU remained unchanged after the vote, and that the government would take no further action concerning the process.

Sigmundur responded that the prime minister had not answered his question or confirmed that Iceland was not an applicant. He also questioned why the government would retain the application submitted under former foreign minister Össur Skarphéðinsson and former prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir as a possible starting point for future negotiations.

He referred to Frostadóttir’s earlier statement that the vote could allow Iceland to “close this matter once and for all”.