22 June 2026Ministry for Foreign AffairsIceland's membership negotiations between 2009-2013Accession negotiations took place during 2009–2013 but were put on hold following a change of government in Iceland in 2013. Iceland's EU membership application is legally valid.
Accession negotiations took place during 2009–2013 but were put on ice following a change of Government in Iceland.
The current coalition Government, made up of the Social Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Reform Party and the People’s Party which came into power after elections in late 2024, announced in itsGovernment Platformthat it intended to hold a referendum on the resumption of accession negotiations with the EU.
Iceland's EU accession application islegally validdespite the fact that the accession negotiations were put on ice. Its validity has been reconfirmed by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, in 2025 as well by a spokesperson for the EU Commissioner for Enlargement.
If Icelanders were to decide to resume negotiations it would be a matter for EU Member States to consider and determine the next steps.
The question about the application's validity is covered extensively in aspecial memorandumproduced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the Althing's Foreign Affairs Committee in August 2025 (in Icelandic).
The memorandum includes the following:
See the Ministry for Foreign Affairs'special memorandumproduced for the Althing's Foreign Affairs Committee (in Icelandic).
See thestatus of Iceland's EU accession negotiations in 2013when negotiations were put on hold.