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DESPITE the current economic turmoil within the European Union, Iceland is pressing ahead with its application for membership.
The Reykjavik government yesterday formally opened negotiations to join the EU, even though there is continued strong opposition from the country's powerful fishing industry and an increasingly sceptical public.
The two sides launched talks on four of 35 policy chapters that Iceland must negotiate in order to comply with EU laws and promptly wrapped up two of them, demonstrating Iceland's already high level of integration with the bloc.
Icelandic Foreign Minister Oessur Skarphedinsson told reporters: "I feel that Iceland is making history today by formally starting the negotiation process."
Fishing will be the key. Iceland is currently at loggerheads with all the other member states over its self declared 150,000 ton mackerel quota and there have been calls for strong sanctions against the country. Some MEPs want Iceland's membership blocked until it settles the mackerel dispute, but the EU said it will not allow this to stand in the way of Iceland's application.
But major fishing countries like Spain and France have their eyes on a share of Iceland's rich cod and haddock stocks and commentators say they hold the key to Iceland's membership chances.
"It will all rest with the Spaniards," Foreign Minister Skarphedinsson told journalists. He admitted that Icelanders themselves may not yet be ready to say yes in a referendum. The latest polls show an increasing majority against joining.
The Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners Federation (LIU) is firmly against membership because it fears the country will lose control of its most important asset - its fish stocks.
Despite everything Mr Skarphedinsson said he was confident that Iceland would eventually join the EU in the coming years. It is likely to be at least a year before there is any final outcome to the negotiations. Then the issue will have to put to the Icelandic people in a referendum. Ironically, Iceland's economy is showing signs of a recovery while some EU countries seem to be in steep decline.
The European Commission said that it would continue to provide Iceland with all necessary technical support to facilitate the process of negotiations.
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