Iceland will hold a vote in late August to determine whether it should restart negotiations on attaining E.U. membership.
To persuade Iceland to join the bloc, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis told the Financial Times that any deal could include both fisheries and aquaculture exemptions to E.U. rules.
Such exemptions, according to Eirikur Bergmann, a professor of politics at the University of Bifröst in Iceland, could include the creation of an administrative zone covering Iceland’s fishing zones where the bloc’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) would not apply. Without such a compromise, E.U. entry would be unlikely, Bergmann told Spanish media outlet La Vanguardia.
In response to the announcement of possible exemptions for Iceland, representatives from the Irish fishing industry have declared they would also want an opt-out from E.U. rules, should they be included in any Icelandic deal.
Irish Fish Producers Organization (IFPO) CEO Aodh O'Donnell said that his group would not necessarily oppose a move by the European Commission to grant Iceland special treatment but only if Ireland were to receive the same treatment.
“Such a move would amount to a tacit admission that the CFP is incapable of serving the interests of island nations with substantial marine resources,” he said. "If the European Commission accepts that the CFP cannot work for Iceland, it must also acknowledge that the CFP is not working for Ireland.”
Irish fishing representatives such as O'Donnell have been specifically angered in the past by what they claim is unfair access granted to non-E.U. states to fish stocks in Irish waters through the bloc's quota sharing agreements at the same time Irish quotas have been cut.
“For years, Irish fishers have been told that the CFP cannot be changed,” O'Donnell said. “We have been told there is no flexibility. We have been told quota shares are fixed. Yet, when a strategically important country seeks to join the E.U., the commission suddenly discovers flexibility.”
Iceland previously applied for E.U. membership in 2009 but suspended negotiations in 2013 before officially rescinding its bid in 2015.
The nation’s fishing industry has expressed extreme wariness at the possible restart of negotiations.
Industry representative body Fisheries Iceland said the same issues that were present when negotiations were suspended in 2013 remain today, particularly concerning sovereignty over fishing resources and the country’s adherence to shifting and stringent E.U. rules.
"Icelandic society and economy are really built on sustainable use of natural resources," Fisheries Iceland said in a 23-page document warning against E.U. membership. “They are not only the foundation of the nation's prosperity but also an important part of its identity.”
Others within the industry have struck a more curious tone toward a deal, such as Bjorn Marius Jonasson, the director of groundfish sales at Iceland Seafood, who told SeafoodSource that the nation “should explore and negotiate with the E.U., without a doubt in my mind”
“Don’t reject a thing [if] you do not know what it is,” he said. “For the general public that lives outside the fishing villages and does not own any fishing rights, the fishing industry represents more of a sentimental attachment. Icelandic exclusivity is only for fishermen and quota holders; they are less than 1 percent of the population.”
