Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, umhverfis-, orku- og loftslagsráðherra, hefur staðfest reglugerð um fráveitur og skólphreinsun sem ætlað er að auka umhverfislegan ávinning af hreinsun skólps. Reglugerðin kemur í stað eldri reglugerðar frá 1999 með síðari breytingum. Meðal nýmæla í reglugerðinni eru m.a. að aukinn skýrleiki er gerður varðandi kröfur um eins þreps hreinsun skólps. Þéttbýli sem losa meira en 10.000 persónueiningar í sjó geta ekki lengur beitt grófhreinsun heldur eiga að hreinsa samkvæmt eins þreps hreinsistigi sem er betri hreinsun á mengunarefnum (lífrænt efni, úrgangur, örplast). Pers…

Hanna Katrín Friðriksson atvinnuvegaráðherra hefur gefið út nýjareglugerð um riðuveiki í fé.Markmið reglugerðarinnar er að útrýma riðuveiki í sauðfé á Íslandi og ná þeim markmiðum sem sett eru fram ílandsáætlun um útrýmingu sauðfjárriðu: Reglugerðin kveður m.a. á um einföldun stjórnsýslu. Því samhliða eiga útgjöld ríkissjóðs vegna riðuveiki að minnka vegna minnkandi fjölda bótagreiðslna auk minni kostnaðar vegna hreinsunar og upprætingar smitefnisins. Ekki síst mun færra fé þjást vegna riðuveiki og færri áföll dynja á sauðfjárbændum vegna þessarar ólæknandi veiki. Reglugerðin kveður einnig á…

Á tímum vaxandi óvissu er nauðsynlegt að slaka hvergi á varðstöðu um hagsmuni þjóðarinnar á sviði utanríkis- og öryggismála. Ljóst er að það alþjóðakerfi sem við höfum búið við frá lokum síðari heimsstyrjaldar leikur á reiðiskjálfi. Þar eru að verki réttnefndir ógnarkraftar sögunnar sem framkalla óvissu langt umfram þá sem við höfum átt að venjast og skapa hættur sem fráleitar þóttu fyrir aðeins örfáum árum. Við sjáum ný veldi rísa í austri og áhrif þess á ríki sem lengi hafa haft forystu á alþjóðavettvangi. Ný þjóðaröryggisstefna ríkisstjórnar Bandaríkjanna endurspeglar vel þennan breytta ve…

Kristrún Frostadóttir forsætisráðherra flutti áramótaávarp sitt í kvöld þar sem hún færði landsmönnum óskir um gleðilegt nýtt ár með von um heilsu, hamingju og þjóðarheill. Forsætisráðherra fór yfir stöðu mála og þau krefjandi verkefni sem framundan eru. „Ísland er frábært land – en við getum alltaf gert betur. Og við eigum að stefna hærra: Halda áfram að byggja landið, hlúa betur að fólkinu okkar og tryggja öllum sem hér búa sæti við borðið – tækifæri til að tilheyra og taka þátt í samfélaginu. Það er eilífðarverkefni.“ Í ávarpinu leit forsætisráðherra einnig yfir farinn veg á viðburðarrík…

Heilbrigðisráðuneytið hefur veitt Geðverndarfélagi Íslands 8 milljóna króna styrk til að styðja við þýðingu og aðgengi að fræðslu- og námskeiðsefni úr hugmyndafræðinni Solihull - Togetherness, sem miðar að því að efla geðheilbrigði, tengslamyndun og farsæld barna og fjölskyldna með snemmtækum og forvarnamiðuðum aðgerðum. Togetherness (áður Solihull Approach) er alþjóðlega viðurkennd hugmyndafræði sem á rætur sínar að rekja til breska heilbrigðiskerfisins (NHS) í Birmingham. Hún byggir á samþættingu þekkingar á heilastarfsemi, tengslamyndun, tilfinningalífi og áföllum og leggur áherslu á að st…

Ákvörðun kærunefndar útboðsmála 17. desember 2025í máli nr. 47/2025:Keyrt og mokað ehf. ogBúaðstoð ehf.gegnBolungarvíkurkaupstað ogÞotunni ehf. LykilorðBindandi samningur. Kröfu um stöðvun samningsgerðar hafnað. ÚtdrátturKærunefnd útboðsmála hafnaði stöðvunarkröfu kærenda þar sem kominn var á bindandi samningur milli varnaraðila og Þotunnar ehf., sbr. 1. mgr. 114. gr. laga nr. 120/2016 um opinber innkaup. Með kæru móttekinni hjá kærunefnd útboðsmála 30. september 2025 kærði Keyrt og mokað ehf. og Búaðstoð ehf. (hér eftir „kærendur“) þá ákvörðun Bolungarvíkurkaupstaðar (hér eftir „varnaraðil…

Ákvörðun kærunefndar útboðsmála 17. desember 2025í máli nr. 41/2025:Ljóstvistar ehf.gegnReykjavíkurborg,Páveri ehf. ogRafvirkja og Pípara fyrir þig ehf. LykilorðSjálfkrafa stöðvun samningsgerðar. ÚtdrátturKærunefnd útboðsmála hafnaði kröfu varnaraðila, R, um að sjálfkrafa stöðvun samningsgerðar yrði aflétt, sbr. 2. mgr. 107. gr. og 1. mgr. 110. gr. laga nr. 120/2016 um opinber innkaup. Með kæru móttekinni hjá kærunefnd útboðsmála 8. september 2025 kærði Ljóstvistar ehf. (hér eftir „kærandi“) útboð Reykjavíkurborgar (hér eftir „varnaraðili“) á rammasamningi á þjónustu rafverktaka fyrir götul…

What would EU membership mean for security and defence? With EU membership, Iceland would become a party to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the European Defence Fund (EDF), and the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). The Main pillars of Iceland's defence would remainNATO membershipand thebilateral defence agreementwith the United States. 23 of the 27 EU Member States are also NATO members. EU membership would not affect how Iceland oprates within NATO. In recent years, Iceland has increased its cooperation in the…

What would EU membership mean for the Icelandic language? Upon membership, Icelandic would become one of the official languages of the EU. EU legislation and key documents would be translated into Icelandic and interpretation into Icelandic would be offered at numerous EU meetings. In a committee opinion of the majority of the Althing's Foreign Affairs Committee from 2009, it was stated that in light of the information had gathered, there was no reason to believe that EU membership would lead to any changes to cultural affairs or to the Icelandic language as Iceland already participates in n…

What were Iceland's main negotiating objectives concerning taxation in the EU accession negotiations in 2009 - 2013? Taxation is covered underChapter 16. The chapter was opened on 18 December 2012. Negotiations were ongoing when they were put on hold. See more information in thememorandum by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the request of the Althing's Foreign Affairs Committeeon 17 April 2026 (in Icelandic). SeeChapter 16of the accession negotiations in 2009-2013 on the old accession negotiation website. Seecomplete overview of all chaptersin the 2009 - 2013 accession negotiations.

What is meant by "resuming accession negotiations"? AlthoughIceland's accession negotiationswere put on hold in 2013, the membership application submitted in 2009 was never formally withdrawn. The European Commission has confirmed that the application remains valid, as reported in connection with the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Iceland in July 2025. The validity of Iceland's membership application is covered extensively in amemorandum produced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the Foreign Affairs Committeein August 2025 (in Icelandic). See thewebsite…

The referendum concerns whether the Icelandic government should resume accession negotiations with the European Union. If voters answer yes, accession negotiations will commence. If and when a deal is reached, the agreement will be put to a second referendum for the Icelandic people to accept or reject. What will the referendum question be? By theParliamentary Resolution No. 14/157, adopted by the Althing on 28 May 2026, it was decided that the referendum question on 29 August 2026 shall read: "Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?" Is this a vote on EU memb…

Do accession negotiations not require adaptation to EU law before the second referendum? During the 2009-2013 accession process, an understanding was reached early on that Iceland would not undertake institutional or legislative adaptations arising from EU membership until it had been confirmed that Iceland would become a Member State. The EU accepted the Icelandic government's reasoning that it could not make assumptions about the outcome of a referendum on EU membership and, therefore, no institutional or legislative adaptations should occur before Icelandic voters have made a decision on E…

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, …

What was the status of the EU accession negotiations when they were put on hold in 2013? Accession negotiations with the EU are divided into 35 policy fields (chapters) covering various policy areas, of which 33 are considered to substantive subject chapters, as three are largely technical. When Iceland's accession negotiations were put on hold, 27 of the 33 substantive chapters had been opened. In addition, Iceland had submitted negotiating positions in two further chapters. In total, negotiations on 11 chapters had been concluded. Freedom of movement for workers (Chapter 2), Intellectual…

What EEA participation costs would be replaced upon membership? If Iceland were to join the European Union, EEA participation costs would be eliminated. Estimated costs of EEA participation are approximately ISK 8 billion per year, comprising: These costs arising from Iceland's participation in the EEA cooperation would be eliminated. Other direct or indirect costs could also be eliminated. These include costs related to participation in e.g. the Schengen cooperation. The European Union also pays, for example, travel expenses for representatives of EU Member States attending EU related meet…

What would EU membership mean for energy and Icelandic sovereignty over natural resources? Iceland has already adopted the majority of EU energy legislation through the EEA partnership (European Economic Area), and the effects beyond that would likely be limited. In the 2009 - 2013 EU accession negotiations the chapter on Energy (Chapter 15) was opened and negotiations were ongoing when the accession negotiations were put on hold. The negotiating objectives were: See more information in thememorandum by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the request of the Althing's Foreign Affairs Commit…

By ParliamentaryResolution No. 14/157, adopted by the Althing on 28 May 2026, it was decided that the referendum question on 29 August 2026, shall read: "Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?" SeeParliamentary Resolution No. 14/157, adopted by the Althing on 28 May 2026 (in Icelandic). Seeopinion by the majority of the Foreign Affairs Committee on an amendment proposalon a parliamentary resolution proposal on a referendum on the resumption of accession negotiation with the European Union (in Icelandic.)

The EU provides financial support to membership applicants through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). A framework agreement between Iceland and the EU on this mechanism was concluded during the 2009-2013 negotiations and ratified by the Althing underParliamentary Resolution No. 46/140. After negotiations were put on hold in 2013,no IPA support has been provided to Iceland. During the 2009-2013 negotiations, the EU had committed in principle to IPA assistance of 40 million euros (ISK 5.8 billion at current exchange rates).Actual payments were considerably smaller,as the EU dis…

If Iceland joins the European Union, when could it adopt the euro? Countries wishing to adopt the euro must fulfil the Maastricht criteria, relating to price stability, interest rate levels, exchange rate stability, public sector balance, and public debt. Participation in ERM II (Exchange Rate Mechanism II) for at least two years is a precondition for euro adoption. Experience from the Baltic states suggests that once ERM II conditions are met, euro adoption can proceed relatively quickly. In the case of the Baltic States, for instance, one year passed from joining the European Union to ERM …