Johannes Hahn Criticizes EU Communication After Iceland Referendum Failure

Fisheries and the Accession Campaign in Iceland

Fishing rights remain a core, neuralgic issue for residents of Iceland, according to Hahn. In an interview with the information portal Mr. East, the current president of the Oesterreichischen Nationalbank stated that while fisheries are naturally a subject for negotiation, the EU failed to adequately address local sensitivities before the vote.

I think we were probably suboptimal in our communication,

Johannes Hahn

Hahn noted that negotiators cannot issue a blank check prior to formal talks, but Brussels should have clearly acknowledged local concerns from the outset. He contrasted the situation in Iceland with the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, where former Prime Minister David Cameron asked the EU to stay out of the campaign to avoid counterproductive interference. Former Commission President Jean-Claude Jucker later called that UK non-involvement a mistake.

In Iceland, it was a mistake not to say: First we have to negotiate,

Johannes Hahn

Hahn maintained that Iceland possesses deep institutional alignment with Western Europe as the world’s oldest parliamentary democracy. He argued that absorbing the country into the bloc would have caused minimal economic, social, or political friction, comparing its readiness to historical Nordic and Austrian accessions.

Lessons from Prior Enlargements and Western Balkans Stalls

Reflecting on stalled integration across the Western Balkans, Hahn described current candidate countries as victims of the 2004 and 2007 EU enlargements. He pointed specifically to the seventh wave that brought in Bulgaria and Romania, noting that Brussels recognized rule-of-law deficits at the time but incorrectly assumed time would automatically heal them.

To prevent similar friction in future rounds, Hahn advocated for strict contractual safeguards. He suggested introducing mandatory accession clauses that prohibit new member states from blocking other aspiring candidates, drawing on historical disputes like Slovenia’s border-related veto against Croatia in the Piran Bay. He also characterized the inclusion of Bulgarian bilateral demands into North Macedonia’s negotiating mandate as a breach of norms. Despite these systemic hurdles, Hahn dismissed fears that Russia or China would fill the geopolitical vacuum in the region, emphasizing that Western Balkan economic ties to the EU remain strong.

Internal Divisions and Society in Serbia

Addressing criticisms he faced from Green politicians regarding a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Hahn pointed to deep societal divisions inside Serbia. He cited the lingering trauma of the 1999 NATO bombings during the Kosovo War and traditional historical ties to Moscow as drivers of ongoing domestic polarization.

Hahn described a fractured political environment where public sentiment is split between nationalist and pro-European factions, noting that these ideological splits even manifest inside the Serbian president's immediate family. While expressing deep concern over this growing societal polarization, Hahn emphasized that ethnic tensions must be resolved organically from within rather than imposed from outside.