Iceland demands fisheries control in any EU membership deal

{"text":[[{"start":8.12,"text":"Iceland’s foreign minister has demanded “sovereign control over all fisheries” in any membership deal with the EU, testing Brussels’ willingness to bend its rules as it seeks to win over the strategically important Arctic state."}],[{"start":22.44,"text":"Reykjavík is gearing up for a knife-edge referendum on whether to restart EU membership talks, as it grapples with security concerns that have sharpened because of US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex neighbouring Greenland. Its last attempt to join the bloc was frozen in 2013 after a clash over fishing rights."}],[{"start":40.32,"text":"“When it comes to fisheries, we are a superpower in Europe,” Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir told the FT. “The EU has to take that into account. If they are not doing that, then it will be very difficult for us to negotiate.”"}],[{"start":54,"text":"Her comments test how far the EU would be prepared to adapt its decades-old fishing policy to accommodate Iceland."}],[{"start":60.28,"text":"EU membership would not necessarily dismantle Iceland’s quota system: member states may decide how to distribute their national fishing allocations among domestic vessels. But Reykjavík would ordinarily lose unilateral control over the wider regime governing catch limits, conservation and access to fishing grounds."}],[{"start":78.8,"text":"“We have to maintain our sovereign control over all fisheries and of course still have the quota system and quota management,” Gunnarsdóttir said."}],[{"start":87.64,"text":"The European Commission has signalled that it is open to a bespoke fisheries settlement and that exemptions could form part of future talks, but EU officials this week cautioned that a full formal exemption would be very unusual."}],[{"start":99.52,"text":"A European Commission spokesperson said: “No two accession processes are identical. Each candidate country is assessed on its own merits, and negotiations take account of its specific circumstances.”"}],[{"start":111.84,"text":"A poll published last week by Icelandic outlet DV found 53 per cent of voters backed reopening negotiations with Brussels, compared with 47 per cent opposed. The vote on talks will be held on August 29, but any eventual accession would require a separate referendum."}],[{"start":128.72,"text":"Gunnarsdóttir, whose party was founded on the idea that Iceland should explore EU membership, sought to reassure sceptical voters that Iceland’s growing strategic value to the EU and stronger economy would allow Reykjavík to secure a deal without surrendering control of its fishing industry."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":146.64,"text":"Iceland’s fisheries, she said, were fundamentally different from those of existing EU member states. Its transferable quota system has created some of the country’s most valuable private assets, concentrating fishing rights among a small group of powerful companies locally known as the “quota kings”."}],[{"start":164.6,"text":"“We are living a different life here in Iceland than on the mainland in Europe,” she said. “Fisheries are part of our national identity . . . I will not sign an agreement that is not good for Iceland.”"}],[{"start":176.64,"text":"Marine products accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the value of Iceland’s exports in 2024."}],[{"start":182.76,"text":"Brussels has intensified a rethink of its Arctic strategy since Trump’s threats over Greenland, increasing “like-minded” countries such as Iceland’s strategic value to the EU. The terms offered to Reykjavík could also set an important precedent for any future negotiations with Norway or the UK, where fishing rights have long been politically explosive."}],[{"start":203.24,"text":"Meanwhile, a “no” vote would mark a sharp rebuke of the EU’s newfound openness to enlargement, as it markets itself as a reliable and stable geopolitical partner."}],[{"start":214.48,"text":"That, and economic prosperity, have left Reykjavík convinced it has far greater leverage than during its previous accession attempt in 2013, when the Nordic island was recovering from the financial crisis in which several banks collapsed and that forced the country into an IMF rescue."}],[{"start":231.08,"text":"The island of about 400,000 inhabitants now approaches the EU as a wealthy, stable economy .“We are negotiating from a position of strength,” Gunnarsdóttir said. “It is definitely a good time for Iceland to negotiate.”"}],[{"start":245.36,"text":"Additional reporting by Paola Tamma in Brussels"}],[{"start":252.62,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786004936_9838.mp3"}