Icelandic Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson yesterday expressed regret that his country, which has been badly hit by the global financial crisis, did not join the EU earlier.

"There is no doubt that being an EU member would have made things better," he told the media yesterday morning during a joint press conference with his counterpart Tonio Borg. He said it was very difficult to maintain an independent micro-currency, which easily fell under attack.

"And by God, we were attacked. But we survived," he said in reference to the Icelandic financial crisis which saw all three of the small Arctic state's major banks collapse.

Mr Skarphéðinssonhas, a member of Iceland's Social Democratic Alliance, said his country was already halfway in the EU since it was a member of the European Economic Area and considered itself as part of the European family.

"We belong in Europe and want to be a member of the EU," he said, adding that membership was important to attract foreign investment.

Last month Iceland announced its plans to apply for EU membership and Mr Skarphéðinssonhas said he was meeting Malta's chief negotiator with the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, during his visit. "We want to learn from Malta's experience," he said.

When asked, Mr Skarphéðinssonhas said his government had not been asked to help Icelandic pharmaceutical company Actavis, which was put up for sale after its major shareholder encountered financial difficulties. Actavis has a plant in Malta.