Iceland’s EU application remains valid but has little effect

Iceland’s application to join the European Union remains valid, but the country is no longer a candidate country and the application has little practical significance, according to an opinion article published by Morgunblaðið. The article was written by business economist Frosti Sigurjónsson.

The article distinguishes between an applicant state, meaning a country that has submitted a valid membership application, and a candidate country, which has been accepted into the EU’s enlargement process.

Iceland submitted its application on 17 July 2009. The European Commission issued a favourable opinion on 24 February 2010 and recommended opening accession negotiations. On 17 June that year, the European Council approved Iceland’s status as a candidate country, and formal negotiations began on 27 July.

Negotiations halted

The negotiations stalled at the beginning of 2013. Following that year’s election, a new government formed by the Progressive Party and the Independence Party, both of which opposed EU membership, took office.

In March 2015, the Icelandic government formally informed the EU that it did not intend to continue the accession negotiations. It also stated that Iceland should no longer be considered a candidate country.

The EU accepted that position, and Iceland has not appeared on the EU’s lists of approved candidate countries for the past 12 years, the article says.

Application was never formally withdrawn

Iceland’s 2009 application was never formally withdrawn. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, confirmed during a visit to Iceland in 2025 that the application was still valid.

According to the article, this means only that the application meets the requirements of Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union and comes from a European country that respects the EU’s fundamental principles.

Whether Iceland submitted a new application in the future or renewed its 2009 application, the unanimous approval of all EU member states would be required for Iceland to regain candidate country status.

Call to withdraw the application

The article argues that, although the 2009 application remains valid, it has little substantive value because Iceland is not a candidate country.

It says the application has no purpose in light of the result of a referendum in which a clear majority of voters opposed reopening membership negotiations. If the government wants to respect that democratic result, the article argues, it should withdraw the outdated application rather than allow the issue to become a political dispute.