Interest In Joining The EU Growing

An increasing number of Icelanders are showing support for joining the European Union. The poll results come at a time when it seems all but certain that the Foreign Minister’s proposal to end accession talks will not be passed before parliament breaks for the summer.

According to the poll, conducted by Market and Media Research, 37.3% of respondents said they were either very much in favour or moderately in favour of Iceland joining the EU. This is up from 33.5%, when the last poll was taken only a month previous.

When viewed overall, support for accession has been steadily increasing since last February, while opposition has been on the decline since around the same time.

The results of the poll come on the heels of a new interview with Minister of Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, who expressed disappointment with the fact that there is by all accounts not enough time left for his proposal to end EU accession talks to be voted on.

Parliament will be breaking for the summer in a matter of weeks, but he says he is “ready to submit the proposal again when parliament reconvenes, or another proposal” changed in some way from the original.