Aims to withdraw the EU application

Withdrawing Iceland's application to join the European Union is one of the issues that the government aims to get through parliament this winter.

The government's summary of those issues states that Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson aims to put forward a resolution with that purpose. However, it also mentions that the timing for the resolution is not decided with the reservation that it is also possible that the resolution will not be put forward at all.

The government previously put forward a resolution to the parliament in February this year to formally withdraw the EU application but the matter was not concluded. The resolution was met with resistance from the opposition and was protested by populous demonstrations outside the parliament building. After the current government came to power in 2013 the accession process was put on hold where it remains. The application was delivered in 2009 by the previous government.

According to a recent opinion poll by Capacent Gallup the majority of Icelanders would vote against joining the EU if a referendum was held today.