Lymec-PM: Iceland: In from the cold (20. Juli 2009)
On Friday the Republic of Iceland handed in an application to join the European Union to the Swedish EU presidency. Iceland's parliament last week had backed the government's plan to begin talks to join the EU, months after a meltdown of the north Atlantic island's economy amid the global financial crisis.
LYMEC President Aloys Rigaut reacted: "Iceland is one of Europe's oldest democracies and we can thus only welcome its EU membership application. Iceland's path to the Union may not be entirely smooth because of differences over fisheries and disputes with some Member States over accounts in failed Icelandic banks, but the fact that Iceland already is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and has thus already adopted more than two thirds of EU legislation should facilitate the process significantly."
The Icelandic government has stated that it will recommend EU membership to the populace - who will ultimately decide the issue by referendum.
Reacting to recent statements from the German Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, LYMEC Vice President Alexander Plahr commented: "If Markus Ferber, head of the CSU’s members of the European parliament, openly opposes Icelandic membership in general because the EU ‘cannot play saviour to Iceland’s economic crisis’ he clearly did not understand what historical chance we now hold in our hands. In the long run, having Iceland as an EU member state will be beneficial to all Europeans. But this will only happen if we show a willingness to consider their bid instead of letting them stand in the cold."
Before going on to add: "Of course, as with all other enlargement candidates, there can be no automatism, Iceland has to fully comply to each and every of the necessary conditions for membership. There must under no circumstances be a ‘nordic bonus’. Furthermore, it is imperative to have the Treaty of Lisbon signed before the Union can manage to take in any new members. We thus very much look to Ireland this autumn."
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