Iceland and European Development is the first comprehensive account published in English which addresses important and interesting questions such as:

• Why Iceland lagged behind in the early European cooperation to abolish trade restrictions because of inadequate economic policies.
• How conflicts over the successive extensions of the fisheries’ jurisdiction complicated Iceland’s efforts to join the free trade movement in Europe. Similarly, how its Common Fisheries Policy has impeded discussion of EU membership.
• How since the early 1990’s Iceland has enjoyed political and economic stability and as the economy has been extensively liberalized there has been satisfactory growth and diversification.
• Why the implementation of the Agreement on the European Economic Area linking Iceland to the EU, having been highly beneficial now meets with difficulty.This account, spanning half a century of Iceland and Europe, is written by a veteran of the Icelandic foreign service who participated in the important phases of this development.