Accession of Iceland To The European Union - Timeline

Timeline

• 1970-01-01: Iceland joins EFTA.
• 1992-05-02: Iceland signs EU Association Agreement (entering the EEA).
• 1994-01-01: EU Association Agreement entry into force.
• 2001-03-25: Iceland joins the Schengen Area.
• 2009-07-16: Iceland submits membership application.
• 2009-09-08: European Commission presents legislative questionnaire to Iceland.
• 2009-10-22: Iceland responds to questionnaire.
• 2010-06-17: Iceland officially recognized as a candidate.
• 2010-07-27: Membership negotiations start.
• 2010-11-15: Screening process started.
• 2011-06-21: Screening process ended.
• 2011-06-27: First four chapters were opened, two were closed immediately.
• 2011-10-19: First meeting of the accession conference with Iceland at deputy level took place. Two chapters were opened and closed immediately.
• 2011-12-12: Accession conference at ministerial level: Five chapters were opened, four were closed immediately
• 2012-03-30: Second meeting of the accession conference with Iceland at deputy level took place. Four chapters were opened and two chapters were closed immediately.
• 2012-05-24: Proposal for a national referendum on discontinuing accession talks with the European Union rejected with 34 votes against and 25 in favor.
• 2012-06-22: Third meeting of the accession conference with Iceland.

On 27 June 2011 negotiations began and the first four chapters were opened. It is uncertain how long negotiations would take, but there are expectations that they might be finished during 2012. Thus, Iceland could become an EU member in 2014 since it would take around 2 years for all EU member states to ratify the Accession Treaty. It was previously thought that Iceland and Croatia might join the EU at the same time, however, with Croatia set to join the EU on 1 July 2013, Iceland would join later than Croatia.