... the Icelandic parliament
voted with a small majority
to apply to join the EU and authorised the country’s government to begin the accession procedure. At the end of July 2009 Iceland submitted its official application to join the EU.
For the European Union Iceland is one of most desirable and, at first glance, most trouble-free candidates: a country with a very high standard of living, the oldest democracy in Europe, closely linked with other Nordic countries, part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and ...
... focusing on policy coherence and activities program of the country’s regional strategy
[11]
. This explains why the search for means to finance future projects has become an urgent necessity for Reykjavik. Despite limited financial resources, Iceland intends to put the Arctic on the agenda of its foreign policy dialogue with the European Union and countries of Asia as well as strengthen economic and trade cooperation with its closest neighbors, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The first results in this sphere have already been achieved: in April 2013, the Icelandic-Arctic Chamber ...