Why the EU should be moving heaven and earth to get Iceland into the club |
Iceland is preparing for a referendum this summer on whether to restart negotiations with the EU about joining the bloc. If voters approve, the government in Reykjavík could complete talks for the country to become the EU’s 28th member state. Iceland is already part of the Schengen passport-free area, and has access to the EU single market through the European Economic Area, meaning that much of the regulatory groundwork for its integration is already done.
Yet the conversation about a possible Icelandic application for EU membership reveals a deeper issue: the European Union must rethink its own future admission of like-minded democracies as a geopolitical necessity.
There is, thankfully, a long queue of candidate countries, from Ukraine to Montenegro, seeking to become members of the club. At some point in the future, who knows, the UK and even Canada might come knocking on our door. Either way, deep reforms within the EU are needed to cope with further expansion.
As we learned with Hungary under Viktor Orbán, a union of 27 countries, let alone 32, cannot run efficiently on unanimity, the principle that allows one country to veto decisions and progress for everyone else.
For years, Iceland’s potential membership has stumbled over fishing rights. Iceland’s economy and national identity are deeply tied to the control of its territorial waters, and disputes over the........