EU opens the door to Iceland
Iceland could "quickly" join the EU if it decided to apply for membership, the bloc's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday (20 October 2008), as the country reconsiders its opposition to accession in view of the financial crisis, which has brought the island to the brink of bankruptcy.
"Iceland is clearly a democratic European country," which has "already negotiated perhaps two-thirds" of the criteria needed to join the current 27-nation bloc, Rehn told AFP. "This means that were Iceland to pose its candidature, we could quickly complete the negotiations," he said. Iceland was an early member of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and through 1994's European Economic Agreement (EEA) applies most of the bloc's single market legislation, with the notable exceptions of agriculture and fisheries. The EEA also allows Iceland to participate - albeit with no voting rights - in a number of EU agencies and programs, covering enterprise, environment, education and research. Furthermore, Iceland is also an associated member of the Schengen zone, providing for passport-free travel within most EU countries and Norway.
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