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Iceland entered the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1970, in the period of the Independence and Social Democratic coalition, against the votes of the People’s Alliance; the Progressives abstained from voting. As EFTA became increasingly absorbed by the European Union (EU), Iceland’s treaties with the EU became more important. By the early 21st century, the Social Democratic Party alone sought full Icelandic membership in the EU, but the 2008 financial crisis found longtime EU opponents weighing the devalued króna against the euro and finding the latter to be a viable alternative. In July 2009 the legislature narrowly approved a proposal to seek EU membership; a week later the country submitted its formal application. After the 2013 election—during which both parties in the new ruling coalition ran on a platform that advocated the withdrawal or delay of the country’s application for EU membership—the attempt by Gunnlaugsson’s government to formally cancel the country’s application for EU membership met with a storm of protest from Icelanders.
Fishing limits
After World War II Iceland gradually extended its exclusive fishing zone from 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) in 1950 to 200 miles (370 km) in 1975. This extension provoked strong protests from the United Kingdom and West Germany, and the British navy was repeatedly sent to the Icelandic fishing grounds to protect British trawlers. The struggle with Britain, commonly known as the “Cod Wars,” came to an end in 1976 when Britain recognized the 200-mile limit. Although all the political parties supported the claim for Iceland’s dominance over the fishing grounds, only the more isolationist parties were willing to risk Iceland’s good relations with its NATO partners.
The victory in the Cod Wars was accompanied by some disappointment as the fish stocks around Iceland began to be depleted. Severe restrictions on Iceland’s own fishing within its zone were inevitable. Icelandic fishing firms subsequently started deep-sea fishing on remote grounds, which led to disputes with other fishing nations—particularly with Norway and Russia over fishing in the Barents Sea. By 2012 Iceland and the Faroe Islands had lined up together against Norway and the European Union in a dispute regarding the region’s mackerel stock, which had increasingly moved inside Iceland’s national fisheries zone and thus increased Iceland’s share of the total catch. Norway and the EU argued that Iceland should reduce its catch to preserve the sustainability of the stock.
The status of women
Outwardly, the feminist movement may seem uniquely strong in Iceland. A woman, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, served as president of the republic for four terms (1980–96), enjoying great popularity, and the Women’s Alliance was first represented in the parliament in 1983. However, the Icelandic president typically is not influential in politics. Moreover, women still earn less income than men, suggesting that they have not yet obtained full equality. Nonetheless, when the Independence Party left the governing coalition in 2009, a woman, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, became Iceland’s first female prime minister as well as the world’s first openly gay head of government. In the 2016 election, 30 women were elected to the Althing, increasing the proportion of female members to nearly half (more than 47 percent).
Gunnar Karlsson The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica