EP discuses Icesave case: MEPs say it should not delay EU accession negotiations
10 March 2010
EU Enlargement Commissioner Füle: "The EC takes note of the results of the referendum. This is a matter for the people of Iceland to decide. Icesave is a bilateral issue between Iceland and two member states and opening accession talks with Iceland should start”.
The issue of whether Iceland should reimburse the UK and the Netherlands for €3.9bn lost by British and Dutch savers in the Icesave crash is a bilateral one, and it should not prevent EU leaders from giving their go-ahead at the end of March for the start of EU-Iceland accession negotiations, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs at a meeting with EU enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle late on Monday. Some MEPs were sceptical about whether Reykjavik really wishes to join the EU.
"Icesave is a bilateral file which should not have repercussions on accession" said Parliament's leading MEP on Iceland, Cristian Dan Preada (EPP, RO)."The ball is now in the court of the Council which could open the negotiations before the end of this month" (i.e. the European Council of March 25-26), added Pat the Cope Gallagher, Chair of the EP Delegation for relations with Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and European Economic Area (EEA).
Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) noted that Iceland is ideally located for energy supplies and that only 33 per cent of Icelanders would support joining the EU. "Can we negotiate with a population who is likely to say no in the end? The Norwegians told us no twice in the past!". This view was echoed by MEPs Hannes Swoboda (S&D, AT) and Ulrike Lunacke (Greens/EFA, AT).
An Icelandic decision
Commenting on the Icesave referendum of 6 March, in which Icelanders rejected a deal to reimburse the British and Dutch governments for deposits lost in Icesave online savings accounts when Iceland's Landsbanki collapsed, Mr Füle said "the Commission takes note of the results of the referendum. This is a matter for the people of Iceland to decide. As such, the results of the referendum are quite distinct from Iceland's accession process. Icesave is a bilateral issue between Iceland and two member states". The Commissioner also recommended opening accession talks with Iceland.
No shortcut to EU membership
However, "there will be no fast-track procedure, no shortcut to EU membership. The criteria that need to be fulfilled are the same for all applicant countries based on the 'own merits' principle. More substantial efforts will be needed to align with the acquis in areas that are not covered by the EEA Agreement, most notably in agriculture and rural development, fisheries and the environment", added Mr Füle.
Bilateral disputes should not constitute an obstacle to progress towards accession, said MEPs in the November 2009 Albertini report on the 2009 enlargement strategy 2009 for the western Balkans, Iceland and Turkey.
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