Iceland no longer a spectator on EU: minister

(REYKJAVIK) - The European Union decision Thursday to open membership negotiations with Iceland was welcomed in Reykjavik, where the foreign minister said joining the bloc would give his country more say in decisions affecting it.

"This is a good day for Iceland and for all of us," Foreign Minister Oessur Skarphedinsson said in a statement.

European heads of state and government meeting in Brussels earlier in the day gave Iceland candidate status less than a year after it applied to join the 27-nation bloc.

"Our home is Europe and Iceland's EU membership will certainly serve our mutual interests," Skarphedinsson said, pointing out that "Iceland would then have the opportunity to become an actor in deciding on issues which affect its future, rather than a spectator."

EU leaders agreed in a summit statement that Iceland "meets the political criteria" and "accession negotiations should be opened," despite differences over the Nordic island nation's continued hunting of whales and its financial difficulties following the collapse of its major banks in 2008.

Brussels deems that Iceland, already a member of NATO, meets the overall criteria for membership, raising hopes in Reykjavik that the island nation could join the bloc in 2012, subject to the referendum.

Iceland is also part of the Schengen treaty that allows unfettered travel between most European nations -- and as a part of the European Economic Area, it is firmly integrated into the European single market.

"As an EEA member of the internal market and participant in Schengen we have already completed a large part of the marathon," Skarphedinsson said.

"I am optimistic that with creativity and hard work on all sides we will finish the course," he added.