EU Not Interested In Will-We-Won’t-We Relationship With Iceland

After consulting with sources in Brussels, Vísir has reported that EU members are unimpressed by Iceland’s Will-We-Won’t-We approach to the EU application. Vísir’s sources have seemingly also indicated that it would be hard to convince the EU to accept a new application in the future should Iceland drop the current bid.

the impression I got was that Iceland is always welcome in the EU

Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson disagrees saying “Just yesterday I had a conversation with Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement, and some of my other Nordic colleagues, and the impression I got was that Iceland is always welcome in the EU.”

Peter Stano, a spokesperson for Füle, would not discuss the possible consequences of withdrawing Iceland’s EU application and stressed that what happened next was entirely up to Icelanders.

“We are prepared to offer very mutually acceptable conditions and solutions to all the issues in the accession process. So from the point of view of the European Union, both of us, Iceland and the existing EU members would be profiting from the entry of Iceland,” said Stano.