Europabevegelsen er skuffet på islendingenes vegne etter EU-nei

On Saturday, the people of Iceland went to the polls to decide whether their country should begin negotiations for EU membership. On Sunday morning, the results were announced with Ruv, Islands state broadcaster, declaring the winner. The official results were expected on Sunday afternoon. It meant that Iceland had voted no to restarting negotiations with the EU about membership.

The result was close, with 47.2% voting yes and 52.8% voting no, according to Ruv. Fredrik Mellem, general secretary of Europabevegelsen, a Norwegian organization advocating for Norwegian EU membership, said he was disappointed on Iceland's behalf, but that this would not necessarily affect the Norwegian EU fight. "No, I don't say that.

If it had been a yes, it might have had an impact. This was a referendum concerning the Icelanders, he told E24 on the phone from Iceland. Einar Frogner, leader of Nei til EU (No to EU), is more optimistic about the result. "I think this is good for Iceland. It shows that for Iceland, as for Norway, it is important to strengthen national control over, for example, food resources, he said, and that it has been exciting.

Pre-election polls had nearly deadlocked between the two camps. The poll was advisory, but the government said it would respect the outcome. Frogner of Nei til EU believes, in line with his Norwegian counterpart in Europabevegelsen, that the result will have a limited impact on the Norwegian EU debate. "I think a yes majority would have had a greater impact, but Iceland stands, like Norway, resolutely on the no side," he said.

The EU debate has split Icelanders. Economics, inflation, and fishing have been central themes. The main arguments of the yes side have been the need to stabilize the economy and a desire to be closer to Europe. The no side has been concerned about losing control over fish resources and disagrees with the notion that EU membership would improve the economy.

In 2009, Iceland sought EU membership without a prior referendum. Negotiations began a year later but broke down in 2013, forcing the country to abandon its EU membership application. Island is, like Norway and the small country Liechtenstein, a member of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) which grants access to the EU's internal market and EFTA. The aim is to promote free trade and economic integration among the member countries.