placeholder-02
Ratification Process

National Referendum

Membership of the European Union must be accepted by the Council of Ministers and receive the assent of the European Parliament. Also, it must be ratified by all the Member States as well as by the candidate country itself. In Iceland, the Accession Treaty will be put to a national referendum as stipulated by the parliament in its resolution instructing the government to seek EU membership.

This way, the Icelandic nation will be granted the democratic right to reject or accept a membership agreement once it has been concluded.

An acceeding country that has signed an Accession Treaty awaiting ratification does not need to wait for the final ratification in order participate in EU activities. Once the Accession Treaty has been signed, the country acquires active observer status and becomes a full participant in EU activities during the ratification period. The state in question will not have a commissioner or a judge at the European Court of Justice until the membership agreement has been ratified, nor will it have voting rights.

Information about Iceland's ratification process and other matters of opinion concerning constitutional matters are discussed in chapter IX of the report by the majority of the Foreign Affairs Committee (Proposal for a Parliamentary Resolution on application for Membership of the European Union).


Facts on Iceland

Vatnajokull glacier is Europe's biggest glacier and it covers more than 8% of Iceland.

Its highest peak is Hvannadalshnjukur (2.110 m) and it takes one day to climb.


This website is built with Eplica CMS