Awwal 02, 1432 H/April 6, 2011, SPA -- The European Commission said Wednesday it expects negotiations on Iceland's European Union membership bid to start in June, according to dpa. The EU and Iceland launched the process last July, but the event was largely a formality. Real negotiations on the 35 "chapters" or technical dossiers on which the country is expected to align its legislation to the bloc's standards have yet to start. "We expect actual negotiations to start towards the end of the Hungarian Presidency (of the EU) with the opening of some chapters at the Accession Conference scheduled for 27 June," EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Compared to other EU hopefuls in the Balkans, Iceland's bid is well advanced because it already complies with large parts of EU laws, by virtue of being a member of European Free Trade Area and of the border-free Schengen zone. However, Fule warned that there were "sensitive issues and challenges in key chapters, such as agriculture, environment and fisheries" still to be haggled over. Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009 after the world financial crisis brought its banking sector to its knees. The EU is keen to see the island nation join, but public opinion in Iceland is sceptical about the benefits of membership.
