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Iceland parliament to consider EU accession

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said Sunday that the country's parliament will consider applying to join the European Union (EU) by holding a referendum when it meets on May 15. Sigurdardottir made the announcement shortly after constituting the cabinet of the country's new Social Democratic and Left Green coalition government. The two parties are split on whether to join the EU, but Sigurdardottir said that joining the Union and adopting the Euro would help stabilize the country's economy, which has recently suffered significant declines . If Iceland decides to seek EU accession, it would become one of several countries currently doing so including Turkey, Romania, Serbia, and Croatia, though it will likely face fewer obstacles. Earlier this year, a report by advocacy group Tesev argued that Turkish property rights still fell short of those required to join the EU, and the European Commission (EC) has said that Romania must do more to fight corruption before it can join. The EC has also said that Serbia may be eligible to join the Union  if it takes the appropriate steps, and Croatia has sought to create special courts targeted at organized crime in their accession efforts.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 11, 2009 (boomark / email).