What were Iceland's main negotiating objectives concerning currency matters in the EU accession negotiations in 2009 - 2013?

What were Iceland's main negotiating objectives concerning currency matters in the 2009 - 2013 EU accession negotiations?

Currency affairs are covered under Chapter 17. The chapter was opened on 18 December 2012. Negotiations were ongoing when they were put on hold.

Iceland’s negotiating position was:

• To participate in the Economic and Monetary Union as a Member State with a derogation until the economic conditions for euro adoption are met.
• To fulfil the Maastricht criteria and to adopt the euro as quickly as circumstances allow.

Participation in ERM II for at least two years is a precondition for euro adoption. As of April 2026, Iceland did not meet the inflation or interest rate criteria of the Maastricht criteria. Inflation needs to be below 2.3% but was measured at 4.7% in February. The yield on Icelandic government bonds is around 7% for 10 years; it needs to be approximately 1 percentage point lower to meet the criterion.

See more information in the memorandum by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the request of the Althing's Foreign Affairs Committee on 17 April 2026 (in Icelandic).

See Chapter 17 of the accession negotiations in 2009-2013 on the old accession negotiation website.

See complete overview of all chapters of the 2009 - 2013 accession negotiations.