Iceland's fishermen oppose the country's membership in the EU

Representatives of Iceland's fishing industry, which is crucial to the island's economy, are opposed to the country's accession to the European Union (EU) because of the risk of losing control over marine biological resources within the framework of the unified fisheries policy of Brussels. This is reported by the BFMTV channel.

"Our predecessors fought hard to preserve the 200-mile [exclusive economic] zone around Iceland. We are concerned that by joining the European Union, we will have to give up some of what we fought so hard for," local fisherman Jon Atli Gunnarsson told the agency, referring to the results of the conflict known as the "cod wars" of 1958-1976.

It is noted that according to a recent Gallup poll among Icelandic enterprises, 90% of representatives of the fishing sector are against joining the EU. The need to adopt a common fisheries policy in the event of joining the bloc has become the main topic of debate on the island ahead of the August 29 referendum on resuming negotiations with the European Union.

The fishing industry provides 40% of the country's exports, and Icelanders do not want fishing quotas and regulations to be regulated from the outside.

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Euractiv portal reported on August 7 that the Icelandic authorities asked the European Commission not to interfere in the upcoming referendum on the resumption of negotiations on the country's possible accession to the European Union. According to the newspaper, the warning about the inadmissibility of foreign interference was transmitted by the Icelandic authorities to representatives of the European Union in a closed format. At the same time, individual EU officials are considering the possibility of supporting supporters of continuing dialogue with Brussels without creating tension with the government of Iceland.

On the same day, Politico reported that Brussels was considering the possibility of Iceland and Montenegro joining the EU at the same time in 2028. According to the newspaper, such a scenario is possible if the residents of Iceland support the resumption of negotiations on the country's accession to the EU in a referendum at the end of August. As Politico noted, Brussels is open to the idea of a "package" accession of the two states.