Iceland has rejected the resumption of negotiations for European Union membership in a nationwide referendum, with 52.8% of voters voting No and 47.2% voting Yes. Turnout reached a high 82.5%, with around 225,000 votes cast from an electorate of roughly 270,000.
The question on the ballot read:
“Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?”
Had the Yes side, Iceland would have re-opened negotiations and Icelanders would have been asked to vote again in a second referendum before the country could actually join the European Union.
The referendum was held following an initiative by Viðreisn, or the Reform Party, Iceland’s most strongly pro-European political party and a member of Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s governing coalition. The coalition, formed by the Social Democratic Alliance, Viðreisn and the People’s Party, agreed in 2024 to put the question of restarting EU negotiations before voters.
Viðreisn and other supporters of reopening negotiations argued that closer integration with the European Union could bring greater economic stability to Iceland, particularly through the eventual possibility of replacing the volatile Icelandic Króna with the Euro.
Supporters argued that adopting the Euro could help reduce exchange-rate volatility, inflation and Iceland’s traditionally high interest rates, while also lowering the cost of international trade. They also argued that Iceland already adopts a large proportion of European legislation through its membership of the European Economic Area, despite having no direct vote in EU institutions. Full membership, they argued, would give Iceland a formal voice over rules it already implements.
The pro-European camp also argued that joining the EU would help Iceland’s security. Iceland occupies an important strategic position in the North Atlantic and Arctic, while the war in Ukraine and growing international competition over the Arctic have renewed questions about the country’s long-term strategic orientation.
Iceland is already a member of NATO, however, and opponents argued that joining the European Union would add relatively little to the country’s security arrangements while requiring it to surrender further sovereignty to Brussels.
The Independence Party, Iceland’s principal centre-right opposition party, led the campaign against restarting negotiations.
At the heart of the No campaign was Iceland’s fishing industry.
Fishing and marine products account for around 40% of Icelandic goods exports, making control over the country’s fishing grounds both an important economic issue and a highly sensitive question of national sovereignty. Opponents argued that membership would bring Iceland under the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy and potentially weaken Reykjavík’s independent control over fishing quotas and access to its waters.
Farmers also expressed concerns about submitting Iceland’s highly protected agricultural sector to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and increased competition from European producers.
The vote exposed a pronounced geographical divide.
The Yes side won in Reykjavík, recording 57.5% in Reykjavík North and 54.5% in Reykjavík South, but the proposal was heavily rejected across much of rural Iceland. The South constituency voted 60.5% No, the Northeast 61.2% No and the Northwest 62.9% No.
The result reflected the longstanding divide between the more pro-European capital and Iceland’s fishing and rural communities, where concerns about fisheries, agriculture and sovereignty remain considerably stronger.
Iceland first applied to join the European Union in 2009, following the collapse of its banking system during the global financial crisis. Accession negotiations subsequently began, but were put on hold in 2013 after a Eurosceptic government came to power. Although negotiations stopped, Iceland never formally withdrew its membership application, which remains legally valid.
Iceland nevertheless remains deeply integrated with Europe. It is a member of the European Economic Area, giving it access to the EU Single Market, and it also participates in the Schengen Area.
Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir accepted the referendum result and said that the question of reopening negotiations would now remain closed during her government’s term.
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