Iceland moves closer to decision on EU membership application

Jul 8, 2009, 17:48 GMT

Reykjavik - Iceland's government was preparing to ask parliament to vote on applying for membership in the European Union at the end of the week, reports said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir was hoping the foreign affairs committee would hand over the proposal to parliament for a debate and vote, perhaps on Friday, according to sources close to the government.

Sigurdardottir and her Social Democratic party favour EU membership but other parties have been cooler to joining the 27- nation bloc, fearing Iceland would lose control over its rich fishing waters.

Iceland has been severely hit by the global financial crisis, and has seen a surge in unemployment and the North Atlantic nations leading banks taken over by the government.

Nordic neighbour Sweden recently took over the rotating presidency of the EU.

Iceland is already a member of the European Economic Area and the border-free Schengen zone, meaning that its legislation is already in line with EU rules in many areas. Analysts say that that should make accession negotiations on most subjects relatively easy.