Concerns about our energy resources are understandable, as those resources are both important and valuable.
The short answer to this question is no — and the legal basis is unambiguous.
The Treaty protects member states' energy resources
Article 194 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) states clearly that each member state has the right to determine the conditions for exploiting its energy resources, to choose between different energy sources, and to decide the structure of its energy supply. This fundamental treaty provision cannot be changed without the consent of all member states.
The precedents are clear
France re-nationalised EdF — its largest energy company — in 2023, bringing state ownership from roughly 84% to 100%. The French parliament then passed legislation specifically preventing any future privatisation. Sweden's Vattenfall, one of Europe's largest energy companies, is 100% owned by the Swedish state and has been throughout Sweden's three decades of EU membership. Austria, Finland, and many other member states maintain significant or full state ownership of their energy sectors.
We're already under EU energy rules
We are already subject to the EU's energy regulatory framework through the EEA Agreement, so little would change on that front with EU membership. As is now well known, we adopted the "Third Energy Package" into Icelandic law in 2019 (by a vote of 46 to 13 in the Althingi). Opponents of the package claimed at the time that the EU energy agency ACER would take control of our energy policy, that we'd be forced to privatise Landsvirkjun, that a submarine cable for electricity exports would have to be laid, and that electricity prices would rise to continental European levels. None of these predictions came true, and none of them would come true with EU membership either.
Sources and further reading:
- Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Art. 194. Confirms the legal right of member states to control their energy resources and choose their energy sources.
- French Law No. 2024-330 (Loi n° 2024-330 du 11 avril 2024). Legislation protecting EDF from dismemberment and codifying 100% state ownership.
- Vattenfall AB: Corporate Governance — ownership information confirming 100% Swedish state ownership.
- Landsvirkjun: About — information on the ownership and role of Landsvirkjun as a national asset.
- EU Regulation 2019/942 on ACER — the regulation establishing the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, showing it has no power to force privatisation or infrastructure decisions.
- Government of Iceland: Q&A on the EU's Third Energy Package — official Q&A on the Third Energy Package, Iceland's exemptions, and the legislative changes that followed (Icelandic).