Iceland Demands Full Fisheries Control for EU Talks as 53% Back Restarting Membership Negotiations
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Aug 6
Iceland Demands Full Fisheries Control for EU Talks as 53% Back Restarting Membership Negotiations
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 6
Summary
August 29’s referendum on reopening EU talks has sharpened after Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir said Iceland would require sovereign control over all fisheries in any accession deal.
40% of Iceland’s 2024 export value came from marine products, making fishing rights the central obstacle that froze the country’s last EU bid in 2013.
Brussels has signaled openness to a bespoke settlement, but EU officials cautioned this week that a full formal exemption from common fisheries rules would be highly unusual.
Trump’s threats to annex Greenland have raised Iceland’s strategic value in the Arctic, helping Reykjavík argue it can negotiate from a stronger position than during its post-crisis 2013 attempt.