This last July 16th, the Commission of the European Union decided to accept the decision of the Icelandic Parliament to apply for EU membership.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: "The decision of the Icelandic Parliament is a sign of the vitality of the European project and indicative of the hope that the European Union represents. Iceland is a European country with long and deep democratic roots. Iceland has very close relations with the EU after some 40 years of EFTA membership and 15 years in the European Economic Area (EEA). It is now up to the Icelandic government to follow-up this decision by officially applying to the Presidency of the EU."
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn added: "I am pleased that the EU's enlargement agenda may soon extend to Europe's north-western corner as well, with Iceland, a country with deep democratic traditions, in addition to our continued commitment to South East Europe."
Iceland is actually a good candidate for the European Union. Iceland joined the FTA in 1970 and has a bilateral Free Trade Agreement with the EEC since 1972. In 1994 Iceland joined the EEA.
Now Iceland joins a list of potential members, joining Croatia and Turkey.
SOURCE:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1159&format=HTML
