European Economic Area (EEA)

Iceland joined the the EEA in 1994. The EEA Agreement covers most aspects of its relations with the EU, including:

• the EU single market – all relevant laws, except those dealing with agriculture and fisheries, apply to Iceland
• EU Agencies and programmes – Iceland participates in a number of them, albeit with no voting rights
• social & economic cohesion in the EU/EEA – Iceland contributes financially
• regular political dialogue on foreign policy issues at ministerial and expert level

Fisheries

Trade in fish products is governed by separate bilateral agreements.

Travel (and asylum)

Since December 2000, Iceland has been an associate member of Europe's border-free Schengen area and participates in the Dublin system for dealing with asylum claims.

Police and judicial cooperation

Iceland participates in Europol and Eurojust.

Foreign policy

Iceland generally supports the EU’s foreign policy and aligns itself with relevant EU measures.

EU membership negotiations

Iceland submitted an application for EU-Membership [45 KB]  in July 2009. Following a decision of the European Council, negotiations were opened in June 2010. 

EU-EFTA reports - EU Council conclusions

The main issues under EU-Iceland relations are outlined in the Council Conclusions below. The 2012 conclusions will be adopted by the end of 2012.

2008 conclusions on EU-EFTA relations   
2010 conclusions on EU-EFTA relations
2012 conclusions on EU-EFTA relations [127 KB]
2012 EEA Council conclusions [95 KB]