After the enlargement to the east, the one to the north. If the accession negotiations on the 35 chapters of European law (the so-called acquis communautaire) go through, Iceland could become the twenty-ninth EU member in a couple of years (Croatia will join in 2013). In fact, the small Nordic country enjoys legislation largely in line with that of Europe, given that it is already part of the See, the economic area associated with the EU which also includes Norway and Liechtenstein.
Iceland has a population of only 300 thousand inhabitants, less than Malta, but maintains a strategic importance for Brussels, linked to its large expanses of territorial waters: the most fishy on the planet and today exclusively exploited by Icelandic fishermen. A situation destined to change in the event of entry into the EU: the sharing of fish resources therefore promises to be the most thorny issue for the Icelandic public opinion, which could refuse membership in a referendum.
But to complicate the negotiations there will also be the Icesave case, the failed online bank in the wake of Lehman Brothers. Reykjavik must repay 3,8 billion euros to depositors in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, but the repayment plan was rejected in two referendums by Icelandic taxpayers, on which a debt of 12 euros per capita would have weighed.
The double banking and currency crisis that hit the island in 2008 is at the origin of the current accession process. The development model based on easy credit and financial ruthlessness has proved unsustainable, raising the question of whether such a small nation can ride the wave of globalization and at the same time remain outside the EU and the euro. Before the next decisive referendum, Icelanders still have some time to reflect on the pros and cons of integration with the rest of the continent.
