Over two-thirds of Icelanders want a vote on EU membership talks
The European Parliament in Strasbourg. Photo: AFP
68% of respondents to a political compass survey produced by Icelandic broadcaster RÚV have indicated that they want a referendum on resuming talks on joining the European Union (EU).
RÚV’s ‘Election Test’ poses respondents a set of questions, then matches their replies to the candidates and parties whose stated policies best match their answers.
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Over 33,400 people have answered the question on accession negotiations with the EU.
Iceland’s membership talks were put on ice since 2013 and in March 2015 Iceland’s government requested that “Iceland should not be regarded as a candidate country for EU membership”. Current government policy is that talks should not be resumed unless decided upon in a referendum.
Just under 70% of voters want such a referendum to take place, reports RÚV (link in Icelandic), with only 30% opposing a vote.
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Several political parties running in next week’s general elections are offering a referendum on whether or not Iceland should resuming EU membership talks in their manifesto.
While opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Icelanders currently do not favour joining the EU, several surveys have shown that a majority want to continue and/or complete negotiations.
