Ministry for Foreign Affairs
What is meant by "resuming accession negotiations"?
22 June 2026
Although Iceland's accession negotiations were put on hold in 2013, the membership application submitted in 2009 was never formally withdrawn.
On 27 May 2026, the Althing adopted a parliamentary resolution to hold a referendum on whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the EU.
The Government submitted the parliamentary resolution proposal on the basis of the coalition agreement announced when the government of Samfylkingin, Viðreisn and Flokkur fólksins was formed in December 2024.
The parliamentary resolution proposal was referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee, which invited submissions from 252 individuals, organisations, and public bodies. Over 100 submissions were received. On 18 May the resolution proposal was passed by the Foreign Affairs Committee with a majority opinion and an amendment proposal changing the wording of the referendum question to:
"Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?"
The options would be:
- Yes.
- No.
Upon completion of consideration by the committee, minority opinions from the first, second, and third minorities of the committee were also published, along with two amendment proposals from minority members, see here and here.