- 3 months ago
The reasons why Iceland has moved away from the European Union
So near and yet so far. On August 29, Iceland voted in a referendum to abandon membership talks with the EU. A few weeks before, we travelled to the volcanic island to investigate the fears and doubts that drove it away from its European neighbours.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/31/volcanic-land-with-cold-doubts-iceland-decides-on-eu-negotiations-amidst-hopes-and-fears
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
So near and yet so far. On August 29, Iceland voted in a referendum to abandon membership talks with the EU. A few weeks before, we travelled to the volcanic island to investigate the fears and doubts that drove it away from its European neighbours.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/31/volcanic-land-with-cold-doubts-iceland-decides-on-eu-negotiations-amidst-hopes-and-fears
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00How big are we in the European Union? Who will listen to us? We will lose identity.
00:06I think membership of the EU would be very beneficial for us.
00:09I would say the game for Iceland.
00:13I think Iceland is part of Europe.
00:14Joining the EU would be bad for us.
00:18We are a member of the European family.
00:22As far away from Europe, fears, doubts and a new and incierta geopolítica international situation,
00:32Iceland decides what relationship to have with the European Union.
00:36Within or out, we are looking at pros and contras in Euronews Investigates.
01:05For the first time, our exploration comes into the tormented geological of the island.
01:12In just a year, this immersive exhibition has attracted 150.000 visitors.
01:23Christian is his general director.
01:26When you live on a volcano in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,
01:29our ancestors, yeah, I would say they were probably totally mental.
01:34I mean, they lived here knowing all this, knowing that it was easier somewhere else.
01:38You get used to the weather, you get used to the earthquakes,
01:41to the volcanoes happening every five years, on average.
01:45That was brought up that you should just, like, a little bit survive on your own.
01:50In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,
01:58we have to go to the Atlantic Ocean.
02:12We are European.
02:16That's what we are.
02:18Even if the majority of our island,
02:20our export is in US dollars.
02:25So...
02:26I don't want the Euro.
02:51First of all.
02:52And...
02:53I think we get less say in our country.
02:56If we are under our own country, if we are under another country.
02:59So...
02:59Yeah.
03:00I don't want that.
03:01Also, we are getting kind of pressured to join.
03:05But there is no reason.
03:06They say they are going to help us, but they never help us.
03:09The best way to be, we close the borders.
03:12We stop with the European Union.
03:15We just get Iceland again.
03:17And...
03:17I think it's give and take.
03:19It's like...
03:19We have more to lose, but we have...
03:22Where is the gift?
03:23What do we gain?
03:25There's a lot of things...
03:25We lose our rights.
03:27We lose our language.
03:29We lose our coins.
03:31What do we gain?
03:33We have such a little market.
03:37So...
03:37For us, the opportunity to gain closer connection to Europe, I think it's a benefit for us.
03:44So, yeah.
03:45I'm for the European Union.
03:49It's obvious for me to...
03:51If you want to be a part of Europe, you have to be a part of the whole.
03:55You cannot just cherry pick the stuff you want.
03:58And ask for help when you want.
03:59I think the options are way better than the, like, downsides of joining the European Union.
04:05And, for example, like when you think about other countries in the European Union, you would never think that they
04:12would, like, at any point lose their sovereignty.
04:18Los sectores pesquero y agrícola concentran las preocupaciones eurosépticas.
04:25El rechazo a la UE en las zonas rurales alcanza el 80%, según algunos sondeos.
04:40Viajamos al corazón agrícola del país, hasta esta explotación familiar establecida hace 50 años.
04:46Stefan cría unas 270 cabezas de ganado, incluidas 70 vacas lecheras.
04:53Explica que, actualmente, diversos aranceles específicos protegen a muchos productos agrícolas islandeses frente al mercado único.
05:01Teme que una adhesión plena a la UE suponga una avalancha de importaciones agroalimentarias más baratas,
05:07frente a las que los agricultores locales simplemente no podrán competir.
05:11We are placed in the island close to the Arctic Circle. We have short growing season. We are not able
05:20to produce food at as low cost as in Europe.
05:26We need a lot of things imported for our business and they are more expensive than in continental Europe.
05:34For example, fertilizer, fuel, service parts, etc.
05:41We have examples from Finland where the farmers price of their products dropped 40% when they joined the EU
05:50and many farmers went out of business.
05:54If we lose the market, I think no subsidies can make up for that.
06:09For the last 30 years here in Iceland at least, I feel like we are in a good shape now.
06:14Any uncertainty with joining the EU and the common market would be bad for us.
06:22The farmers are kind of the backbone of the rural societies, the communities.
06:28And if we lose our conventional way of farming, I'm afraid that the many rural communities would be affected by
06:41this.
06:46The farmers in the rural areas are extended to the control of animal diseases.
06:51Only a number of the more than 200 diseases of animal diseases cataloged by the World Health Organization are here
06:59endemic.
07:00The opening of the border of the unique market for living animals would put in danger
07:05all the sector, says this ancient farmer and agricultural inspector, active militant against
07:11the full adhesion of the EU.
07:33We can export them to parts of the world, but if we do export them, even if it's just
07:46for competition, then we are not allowed to bring them back.
07:51This is how strict our regulations are.
07:56The fishing is another great economic sector abiertamente euroesceptic.
08:00The fishing activities represent around 8% of the PIB of the country and employing the
08:064% of its labor force.
08:09Agus works in a raster that captures Bacalao and Abadejo.
08:14The following interview had planned to begin a fishing campaign of three weeks.
08:21It's not the only risk, explains it.
08:28The majority of the companies who are in fish industry are family companies.
08:33Often the captain is the owner.
08:37So when he gets to a certain age, he needs to sell.
08:41There is an open market through Europe.
08:44It's really easy for European companies who are willing to buy themselves in Icelandic
08:49fish industry.
08:50We don't know what would happen when that happens.
08:53Fish industry is in the blood of Icelanders.
08:57It will never end.
08:59But it's got a change.
09:02Concluimos la entrevista y un restaurador de barcos se une a la conversación.
09:07How big are we in the European Union?
09:10Who will listen to us?
09:12We will lose identity because their rules will apply to Iceland more and more.
09:17And we cannot take that.
09:19We have independence in our blood.
09:25Now, carpintero, antes era pescador, vivió más de una década en Dinamarca.
09:32The argument here is that we will have a more stable society, a stable economy.
09:39Okay?
09:40We have, through all the ages, our economy has gone up and down and up and down and up
09:44and down.
09:45And we have just had to live with that.
09:47I cannot believe that we will be feeling good in under or in that complex party that
09:59is the European Union.
10:01We will feel suffocation, I guess.
10:07Alrededor del 75% de la legislación islandesa ya se ajusta a las normativas europeas en los
10:13ámbitos social, medioambiental o económico, por ejemplo.
10:16Es más que suficiente, afirma el fundador del principal grupo euroséptico del país,
10:21profesor de física atmosférica en la Universidad de Islandia.
10:26Many laws that have created in the European Union, they may be quite good for Iceland, but
10:34all the laws are based on the interests and the needs of the big countries in continental
10:41Europe and not the needs of Iceland.
10:45The economy of Iceland is based on natural resources, it's not highly industrialized in
10:51the same manner as in Central Europe.
10:54And to some extent the culture is also different.
10:58There is, for instance, no military tradition in Iceland whatsoever.
11:03Apart from this, of course, it's going to be very, very costly to be a member of the European
11:10Union for Iceland.
11:11There will be a constant flow of money from Iceland to Europe.
11:16The movement euroséptico florece, además, in torno al temor de que una adhesión plena hará
11:23perder aún más control en fronteras y políticas de inmigración y socavará soberanía.
11:29Escuchemos, por ejemplo, a este taxista.
11:40But when you go into like a bureaucratic like Brussels seems to be showing us, that will
11:47probably not be allowed, you know, because it's not in the rule book.
11:52Sin embargo, incluso él reconoce que el país se enfrenta a desafíos económicos de su propia
11:57creación sin soluciones claras a la vista.
12:01We need a, so to say, a bigger currency.
12:04Our currency is basically, you know, not bigger than a Disney money, basically.
12:09So, the downside, obviously, is that the markets are expensive, loans are expensive, there
12:17is always going to be an inflation.
12:19La estabilidad económica es, de hecho, uno de los pilares fundamentales para los defensores
12:24de la causa europeísta.
12:25La moneda nacional, la corona, ha sido históricamente propensa a sufrir devaluaciones repentinas con
12:32un enorme impacto económico, incluida una elevada inflación.
12:36Aquí, los tipos de interés son aproximadamente tres veces más altos que los fijados por el
12:41Banco Central Europeo.
12:42Una plena adhesión a la UE y la adopción del euro garantizarían estabilidad económica
12:48para generaciones venideras, afirma este diputado de origen polaco al frente de la Comisión
12:53de Asuntos Exteriores del Parlamento.
12:58¿Qué tal como es racializar la referencia a la UE?
13:00Dopo su nivel de interés.
13:00Está bien tomando que ESA sería una parada divina al respecto de la Unión Europea.
13:05Es lógico que a considerar que ESA sería un parada parada al respecto de la UE.
13:05Pero, en detectando a esos números, creo que es de эти números que, en el
13:09estlánico, eso significa que a un 60 millones de pesos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valiosos,
13:15the salción de los hogares donde se trata a las renda con los intereses reductores,
13:19la salud valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos valianos
13:25valianos.
13:25The benefits for the homes and the consumers are of such magnitude that it's very easy to justify this cost.
13:32But even at this point, the experts seem to discreate.
13:36Erna is economist and works as an independent assistant.
13:40The economy of Iceland is so particular that to explore what is better or worse is a very difficult task,
13:47afirma.
13:48We are subject to all sorts of different shocks for the economy than the countries in the Eurozone or the
13:55EU,
13:55like fishing stocks, sometimes you have low cats in certain species that are economically important.
14:04And also we have these shocks from natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanoes.
14:10If you are stuck with a currency that doesn't adjust to your fluctuations in the economy,
14:16you end up with either having to borrow more money for the state or cut down expenditure on other issues.
14:24Más allá de la economía, las nuevas realidades geopolíticas internacionales están influyendo considerablemente en el debate.
14:31Los conflictos en Ucrania y Oriente Medio, junto con mensajes contradictorios de la administración estadounidense,
14:38han generado una creciente sensación de excesivo aislamiento.
14:42Este profesor universitario de ciencias políticas preside una plataforma que aboga por estrechar vínculos con la Unión Europea.
14:51Sostiene que, desde un punto de vista estratégico,
14:54Islandia no puede permitirse permanecer tan aislada en un escenario mundial cada vez más inestable.
15:01We see the United States, our main ally, making threats against our sovereign neighbor, Greenland,
15:09against Denmark, which is a solid NATO ally, against Canada.
15:15Can we still rely on the United States?
15:17So this variable has come in to join the European Union for security reasons.
15:24National security means a lot of other things than just, like, defending against a full-scale invasion.
15:29Today we see that security threats are much more subtle.
15:34We are under constant attack by Russian bots and Russian misinformation
15:40and all sorts of actors that are trying to influence our infrastructure,
15:47attacking our websites, attacking our energy infrastructure.
15:52And they need to be secured.
15:58So there's a lot of things that the European Union can help with in that respect.
16:06La Unión Europea, de hecho, considera a Islandia como un activo estratégico y democrático.
16:12Pero lo cierto es que, aunque sujeto a y alineado con numerosas políticas de la UE,
16:18el país permanece fuera de las instituciones comunitarias,
16:22perdiendo así influencia en la toma de decisiones.
16:25Esta diputada pertenece a la Alianza Socialdemócrata,
16:28cuya lideresa es la actual primera ministra.
16:32La postura inequívocamente europeísta del actual gobierno
16:35es la mejor forma de defender los intereses del país, afirma.
17:22Más allá de las instituciones políticas, el debate ha calado en el tejido socioeconómico islandés,
17:28con conclusiones abiertamente antagónicas.
17:31Fundada en 1994 y con 62 empleados,
17:35esta empresa facturó el año pasado casi 25 millones de euros
17:39comercializando productos químicos de lubricación y recambios para automóviles.
17:44La mayor parte de sus importaciones procede de Europa.
17:48El negocio marcha bien tal y como está
17:50y no es necesaria una mayor integración en la UE, afirma su director ejecutivo.
18:03El negocio marcha bien tal y como está
18:21en la UE es bastante fácil y bastante transparente.
18:31En el otro extremo del espectro nos reunimos con una empresaria fervientemente pro-europea.
18:38Elga ha vivido en los Países Bajos y en Brasil.
18:42Es fundadora y directora de una agencia de viajes que atrae turistas a Islandia.
18:47El país, afirma, necesita abrirse más para poder prosperar.
18:52Nosotros somos una nueva democracia.
18:54Nosotros hemos estado aquí desde 1944 como completamente independientes.
18:58Y yo entiendo que las personas son scepticos,
19:00pero estamos ya tanto en la UE con la EEA.
19:03Entonces, ¿por qué no mirar cómo beneficiarse es para nosotros
19:07para estar completamente dentro?
19:09Con todos los beneficios y también que la UE no es perfecta.
19:12Pero Aislanda no es perfecta tampoco, como es ahora.
19:15Yo creo que principalmente en el hogar, el dinero, el krona, los precios de interés,
19:19todas estas cosas.
19:20Es realmente raro cómo tenemos aquí.
19:22Yo creo que no es muy bueno para los jóvenes de este país.
19:26Si vamos a continuar este camino,
19:28yo creo que tenemos que mirar otras opciones,
19:30cómo podemos hacer sus vidas mejor.
19:33No podemos isolarnos de nosotros.
19:35De nuevo, no creo que eso será posible en el futuro.
19:37Una integración completa en la UE o statu quo.
19:43La isla volcánica se asienta sobre fuerzas sociopolíticas,
19:46además de tecnónicas muy activas,
19:49que moldean incansablemente su futuro.