Iceland, with its population of just 320,000 people has traditionally been fiercely independent. But many Icelanders have moved to the EU, including Jonas JOHANSSON and his family here in Brussels. 00.26 Jonas JOHANSSON, Icelander living in Brussels, in English: "This is what I would call a typical Monday dish in Iceland, especially after recession; I would call it recession soup. It's made of various leftovers from last week and weekend; we have potatoes, leaks, celery and lots of garlic of course and chilli."   00.43 When Jonas and his family moved to Brussels, he didn't imagine for a second that Iceland would one day join the EU. Icelanders have always been EU sceptics - but last July when the banks collapsed attitudes changed. Iceland has now started the process of negotiating an accession treaty to join the EU, and could well become the 28th member state of the Union. They might even adopt the euro as their currency. But how much of this was down to the economic crisis?   01.21 Thórólfur MATTHÍASSON, Economist, in English: "Before the collapse this was a question that was discussed but not discussed… After the collapse economists saw it as the only way to securing we didn’t have a second collapse. We have been trying to have our own currency for 80 years and it has been a failed experiment, so now the experiment with the Icelandic krona is over in my view."   01.55 According to the Icelandic Finance Minister however, adopting the euro isn't necessarily the answer.   02.00 Steingrímur J. SIGFÚSSON, Finance Minister of Iceland, in English: "Having our own currency and the flexibility it gives us is very important and it is proving itself now where the krona has devalued and it is giving the export industries a strong advantage, which they are making very good use of, and this applies to the fisheries industry, to the competitiveness of our business and even to tourism which has been flourishing in the midst of the crisis, so there are really two sides to the krona."   02.33 The Vice President of the European Parliament says that it isn't merely a question of economy, but of core values.   02.39 MEP Diana WALLIS (ALDE, UK), in English: "Clearly the financial and economic crisis has been the immediate trigger but that is not to say that Iceland hasn't had a European vocation for many years and very close ties with Europe. It's only now that we've seen a majority of the political parties in Iceland ready to make the leap."   02.53 But the country's ruling coalition remains divided over the benefits of EU membership for Iceland. The prime minister and the Social Democrats have always campaigned for joining the EU, but their Left-Green coalition partners are traditionally against EU membership.   03.10 Össur SKARPHÉÐINSSON, Foreign Affairs Minister of Iceland, in English: "Experience shows that it will increase employment, it will increase foreign investment but we’ve also had a very bitter experience with our currency and we feel it very difficult to have a micro currency that is completely independent in a globalised world."   03.27 Steingrímur J. SIGFÚSSON, Finance Minister of Iceland, in English: "There are major concerns relating to basic industries in Iceland such as the fishing industry; the common fisheries policy is not very popular. Iceland has made good advantage of being able to safeguard its interest in fisheries both in being able to control sustainable fisheries, negotiating its right on its own behalf and so forth."   03.57 Exports of fish products account for 40% of Iceland’s foreign trade revenues. It is Iceland's largest and most profitable industry and fishermen are unlikely to relinquish control of it without a fight. 04.09 Sigurdur SVERRISSON, Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners, in English: "Our federation has maintained for many years that by joining the European Union we would definitely loose control over one of our most important resources. And furthermore, the legislative powers would shift from Iceland to Brussels. Once you've lost control you can't tell what's going to happen."   04.30 Rolf ARNARSON sees things from a different perspective. He specialises in producing cod liver, and business is booming thanks to the EU regulations.   04.41 Rolf ARNARSON, Triton Fish Products, in English: "There has been a long history of canning cod liver in the Baltic but due to recent EU regulations on the amount of dioxin in the liver most producers in Denmark and Poland are no longer able to sell within the EU and this means that the demand for liver has of course increased which means that canning in Iceland has considerable grown." 05.12 Because of its importance to the economy and the strong passions surrounding the industry, fisheries promise to be the most difficult part of Iceland’s accession negotiations with the EU. But if a deal is struck, some think the whole process could be much faster than previous enlargements, largely because as a member of the European Economic Area, Iceland has already implemented about two thirds of EU law. Which means that Iceland could become the 28th country to join the EU. Something which Croatia wants to be. And Turkey, which has been an EU candidate for a long time sees this as unfair.   05.38 MEP Diana WALLIS (ALDE, UK), in English: "There is a scenario where Iceland and Croatia would come in together because Croatia's application is very well advanced but then there is the question mark of what happens with the rest of the Western Balkans, that may take a bit longer but I think there are many of us eager to make progress there and to make progress with Turkey." 05.56 But it isn't only Iceland. Albania and Montenegro have already applied for EU membership. And Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo also want to join. The question is how many more countries can the EU accommodate? 06.12 MEP Doris PACK (EPP, DE), in English: "I think Turkey and Georgia and Ukraine are good neighbours and we should have a very good neighbourhood policy, to make links and bridges where it is possible but not to put them in the structures of the EU because we are really not capable of running the Union any longer." 06.35 Looking at the list of applicants, it is clear that in 10 years time, like it or not, the EU will be bigger than it is now. In Iceland, everyone is talking about joining the EU. 06.44 Vox pop, in English: "My main fear is to loose our independence." 06.47 Vox pop, in English: "No, because I am a farmer and I don't want to have milk and meat from abroad, I want to make it myself in Iceland." 07.02 Vox pop, in English: "Our currency has been a huge problem for us running small businesses so that's the main reason I would be very happy if we joined the EU." 07.12 Vox pop, in English: "I think we would get lost, a very small country inside a very big union and I think the voting of the people of Iceland would have a very little weight." 07.21 Vox pop, in English: "I am in favour of joining the EU because then we would get the Euro." 07.27 Vox pop, in English: "I see it as a really good base for the currency so we can reduce the currency fluctuations but also I am really afraid of the fishing policy."   07.41 As member of the European Economic Area Icelanders already enjoy many of the rights of EU citizens, but tackling the reluctance of some citizens to join the EU won’t be an easy task for the Icelandic government. It will be a crucial one however, because they have already promised, once the negotiations are concluded, to call a decisive referendum on whether or not Iceland should join the EU.   Distributed by Tubemogul.