Iceland Holds Referendum on Resuming EU Accession Talks
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Icelanders voted on whether to restart negotiations to join the EU, with polls indicating a narrow lead for the No side. The outcome will determine if a further accession process and possible second referendum will be pursued.
Iceland held a nationwide referendum on Saturday to decide if the country should resume accession negotiations with the European Union, a process that was halted in 2013. Voting ran from 09:00 to 22:00 GMT, and early voting had already accounted for more than 20% of the electorate. A poll released shortly before the vote showed the No campaign ahead with 51.6% support, while an earlier survey had placed the Yes side in front.
The question on the ballot asked whether Iceland should restart talks that could lead to full EU membership, which would bring the nation into the customs union and eventually adopt the euro. Currently, Iceland participates in the EU's single market and Schengen area through the European Economic Area. Of the 35 negotiation chapters, 27 have begun and 11 are provisionally complete.
A Yes vote would not constitute immediate membership; it would trigger further negotiations and require approval by a second referendum, the parliament, a constitutional amendment, and ratification by all EU member states. The No side argues that a rejection would not preclude future talks but emphasizes concerns over sovereignty, particularly the potential impact of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy on Iceland's vital fishing industry, which accounts for nearly 40% of exports.
Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, leading the Yes campaign, said Iceland is already well integrated with Europe and that re-entering negotiations would be a significant step toward reducing risks. > "One of the biggest risk-reducing steps we can take," she told a televised debate.
Opposition leader Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir, heading the No campaign, stressed that Iceland already works closely with Europe and that the vote was not about abandoning that relationship. > "We already do, and we want that to continue," she said.
Security considerations also featured in the debate. Iceland, a NATO member without its own military, relies on allied defence arrangements, including a bilateral US agreement dating to 1951. EU officials have highlighted the partnership as an anchor of shared values, prosperity and security, while the No campaign warned that EU membership would not replace NATO guarantees.
The referendum result, expected in the early hours of Sunday, will determine whether Iceland moves toward a new accession agreement or maintains its current EEA status while keeping the option to revisit EU talks in the future.