According to a new survey conducted by Fréttabladid daily, two out of every three respondents want to carry through with the European Union membership negotiations while a Media and Market Research (MMR) survey concluded in June that the majority of respondents wanted to withdraw the application.
Joe Borg, the former European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, speaks on the EU in Iceland on September 25. Photo by Geir Ólafsson.
In the Fréttabladid survey, 64.2 percent of respondents wanted to complete the application process and then vote on the membership agreement in a national referendum whereas 35.8 percent of respondents stated that the application should be withdrawn.
In the MMR survey of June 8-10, 57.6 percent of respondents wanted the government to withdraw the EU membership application, while 24.3 percent wanted to go through with the application process.
Grétar Thór Eythórsson, professor in political science at the University of Akureyri, said there is no single incident which explains this fluctuation, which he finds noteworthy.
“Perhaps it shows how fleeting the public opinion is in all of the EU discussions. It could be a hint rather than a right-about turn,” Eythórsson said. “Or people have come to realize that it isn’t an option to back out of negotiations once the process has started and that there is no risk involved in continuing with talks.”
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