Iceland sees Parliament vote on EU bid next week

Iceland's Foreign Affairs Committee said it expected to finalise a proposal to apply for EU membership in the next few days and expected a vote on the issue in Parliament next week.

The recently elected Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, has made joining the 27-member bloc one of her top priorities since the country's financial meltdown.

Her hopes of sending an application in July looked under threat when the opposition submitted a motion separate from the coalition government's own EU membership proposal. Parliament is debating the details of the two documents.

The Foreign Affairs Committee was asked to produce a proposal that would win the broadest possible backing, and committee chairman Arni Thor Sigurdsson told Reuters a single motion could be ready for a vote in the Althing by the end of next week.

"Hopefully we'll put the finishing touches on it tomorrow night," Sigurdsson said.

The opposition has proposed holding one referendum on whether to apply to the EU and, if Icelanders support that, another on whether to join. The government wants only one referendum on eventual membership once it gets a green light from EU member countries.

Observers have said the opposition - the Independence Party and the Progressives - wants to buy time to win over the Left-Greens, the junior coalition partners, who have been sceptical about joining the European Union.

Support for negotiations on EU membership, and ultimately the adoption of the euro currency, has risen since the collapse of the country's banking system, and Sigurdardottir believes membership would foster economic stability and reassure foreign investors.