Iceland's government is now set to make a second attempt at revoking the
country's EU application. The country's ruling coalition first decided to submit
a bill to stop EU accession early last year, sparking major protests in the
capital, Reykjavik. Iceland is expected to withdraw its application to become
a member of the European Union, the Reykjavik Grapevine reported Monday, citing
the country's prime minister. "Participating in EU talks isn't really valid
anymore. Both due to changes in the European Union and because it's not in line
with the policies of the ruling government to accept everything that the last
government was willing to accept. Because of that, we're back at square one,"
Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was cited as saying by the
magazine. In an interview with the Icelandic Morgunbladid newspaper on Monday,
Birgir Armannsson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Iceland's
parliament, stated that "it is not unexpected that the prime minister is likely
to present a new parliamentary resolution to revoke the membership
application." Iceland applied to join the European Union in 2009 and began
formal negotiations the following year. After the 2013 elections, the country's
new center-right government decided to end accession talks with the EU. Iceland
is currently a member of the European Economic Area, the European Free Trade
Association, and a part of the Schengen Area.
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