Thursday, June 27, 2013
2.13 (Binnengasthuis)
Over the last decade, ‘Europe’s external relations policy has been primarily focused upon managing Eastern enlargement, organising a ‘EUropean’ neighbourhood around its frontiers, particularly in the Mediterranean, and firming up relations with rapidly expanding economies such as China, Russia, India, and Brazil (Jones 2006,2009; Jones and Clark 2008,2010,2011). These efforts have been undertaken using a number of institutional instruments and regional frameworks (Agnew 2005; Bialasiewicz 2008;Kostadinova 2009; Mamadouh and van der Wusten 2008;Murphy 2005; Jones 2011). Most recently, ‘EUrope’ has turned its enlargement focus towards the Balkans and the Arctic. In this latter context, a membership application has been received from Iceland. The significance of this bid far outstrips the size of this small island state since Iceland’s relationship with ‘EUrope’ is long-standing and complex (Thorhallsson 2001, 2004). The membership bid opens a new struggle within Icelandic political society over the wisdom of greater integration with ‘EUrope’- in essence a contemporary saga of soul searching (see Kellogg 2000) depicting events, people and places in a modern geopolitical adventure. In this paper, and in keeping with this modern saga, we trace the Icelandic story on EU membership since 2009 in what is a most tumultuous time for Icelanders following the collapse of the Icelandic economy, the banking system and credibility of the political class.
