'A close partner': EU offers muted reaction after Iceland rebuffs accession talks
The EU institutions say they fully respect the choice of the Icelandic people after voters said "no" to reopening accession negotiations. The result threatens to dampen the momentum on enlargement policy.
Iceland's voters have rejected restarting negotiations to join the European Union, with 52.8% voting against and 47.2% in favour, according to RUV, the public broadcaster. The referendum, which was held on Saturday, had a turnout of 82.5%, the highest in any election in Iceland since 2009.
The result threatens to dampen the momentum on enlargement policy, with the EU institutions saying they fully respect the choice of the Icelandic people. Iceland had applied to join the EU in 2009, but talks were suspended in 2013 when a eurosceptic government came to power.
The debate in Iceland centred on the country's fishing industry, with many "No" voters fearing they would cede control of their lucrative fishing grounds under EU membership. Iceland is already part of the EU's single market and Schengen border-free zone, but EU membership would bring it into the customs union and eventually the euro.
Brief written by urgent.news from Euronews, France 24, Fortune, The Island Sri Lanka, Dawn — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- 'Fishing, sovereignty and economic policy': Why Iceland voters rejected EU membership in referendum livemint.com
- World : Iceland Narrowly Rejects Restarting EU Membership Talks In Referendum bernama.com
- Iceland says 'No': Four takeaways from the EU accession referendum euronews.com
- 🔴 Iceland rejects restarting EU accession talks in referendum france24.com
