EK: Iceland’s EU membership would “increase the voice of the Nordic business community” in Europe – the future of the EU negotiations will be decided today

Icelanders will vote on Saturday on whether to restart the country’s EU membership negotiations, which were suspended in 2013.

Director responsible for EU affairs of the Finnish Confederation of Business and Industry EK Juho Mäki-Lohiluoma says that the EK has a positive attitude towards the country’s possible EU membership in the future.

As an EU member, Iceland would increase the voice of the Nordic business community in European decision-making, says Mäki-Lohiluoma.

“Even small member states can be very influential in EU decision-making.”

The voting is getting tight

The Yes side, sympathetic to membership negotiations, was in the lead in opinion polls for a long time during the summer, but as the vote approaches, the differences have narrowed even more: the polls show the vote to be very even, with the differences in support remaining within the margin of error.

News agency Reuters according to information, in the most recent opinion poll, the figures have turned in favor of those who oppose the EU negotiations. 51.6 percent of Icelanders who responded to the survey were against the continuation of the negotiations, while 48.4 percent supported the continuation of the negotiations.

According to Mäki-Lohiluoma, the decisive factors of the vote would seem to be questions about the country’s fisheries and sovereignty.

The vote concerns the continuation of membership negotiations that were suspended in 2013. Ten years ago, the reasons related to the country’s fishing industry were one of the significant factors behind putting the negotiations on hold.

“The importance of fisheries for Iceland is significant, but it’s also about identity and other issues deeper than the economy that will decide the vote,” says Mäki-Lohiluoma.

If the voting result is in favor of continuing the negotiations and they achieve a result in time, the actual accession would probably be voted on in a separate referendum.

The country is now looking at its relationship with Europe in a new light

In matters of security, Iceland has traditionally leaned on the United States. The country has no armed forces of its own at all.

At the same time, the European identity in Iceland has not been as strong as in other European countries.

The geopolitical turmoil seen in recent years and the changes seen in transatlantic relations have made Icelanders rethink their relationship with Europe, Mäki-Lohiluoma estimates.

“Russia’s war of aggression, intensifying competition in the Arctic region and the deterioration of the rules-based system have raised the importance of security and partnerships in the Icelandic discussion as well,” he says.

The question is the EU’s readiness to expand

Mäki-Lohiluoma considers Iceland’s readiness to join the EU to be good. The country is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), i.e. already largely integrated into the EU’s internal market.

As a Nordic state governed by the rule of law, the country does not have similar challenges to solve as other potential EU member candidates.

“Since the integration into the internal market has already taken place to a very large extent, it is difficult to see any huge challenges from the EU’s side that Iceland is not welcomed into the Union.”

At least the development of the country’s rule of law and compliance with the Union’s basic values ​​and EU legislation have been considered relevant issues for member negotiations

Mäki-Lohiluoma sees that the EU is ready to expand, but the increase in the number of members of the Union requires reforms from the EU.

“Currently, the Union is ready to expand to countries like Iceland, but when, for example, Ukraine hopefully advances in its own membership process, yes, yes, the EU also needs to rethink certain things, for example in terms of agriculture.”