The European Union is continuing to lose its attractiveness. The government of Iceland withdrew its application to become a member of the European Union. The country approached the European Commission for a membership in the 28-nation bloc at the height of the global financial crisis in 2009 and that seemed a universal solution to a number of economic problems. However, the new government does not share the enthusiasm about it and dropped its EU membership bid. Moreover, fishing quotas is a divisive issue between Iceland and the EU as this is a priority sector for Iceland’s economy. Europe has some restrictions in the fisheries sector, while Iceland finds this distribution of biological resources unacceptable.
Interestingly, political views of Icelanders have changed dramatically. They are more skeptical about the prospects for joining the European Union. Given that, the government took the decision with no formal approval by parliament, thus triggering discontent within the opposition. Meanwhile, the country is still a member of the Schengen area and of the European economic area, which enables it to export goods to the EU’s market with no tariff barrier and develop tourism. Most of Iceland’s citizens ceased to think about the prospects of the European integration and are more concerned over the debt problems that emerged after Iceland received a bailout from the IMF in 2008. Back then, it was the first European country to ask for financial aid from the IMF.
