Icelandic voters reject resuming European Union accession negotiations in a narrow referendum

Icelandic voters rejected a proposal to resume negotiations to join the European Union by a narrow margin of 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent. The referendum, held in a country of nearly 400,000 people, saw a high turnout of 82.5 percent. While Iceland is already a member of the European Economic Area and the Schengen Area, full membership would have eventually integrated the country into the customs union and the eurozone. Debate over the vote centered on the maritime fishing industry, which accounts for almost 40 percent of the country's exports. Many voters feared that joining the EU would mean ceding control of lucrative fishing grounds to the bloc's Common Fisheries Policy. The

Sources

• Euronews
  Why so many countries want to join the EU, except Europe’s richest
• Euronews
  EU tries to turn the page on enlargement after Iceland's referendum
• BBC
  Iceland votes against restarting EU membership talks
• The Guardian
  Definitely no or maybe yes: what tipped the Icelandic referendum | Miranda Bryant

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Paywall and unreadable sources

• The Economist
  EU enlargement hits an Icelandic snag