That referendum, provided it has a positive outcome, would give the government a mandate to continue negotiations with the EU, Radio Free Europe reports.
Namely, Iceland is already integrated into some European policies and is aligned with most of the EU acquis because it is part of the European Economic Area.
Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009, immediately after the financial crisis. Accession negotiations began in 2010, but the government withdrew its application for EU membership in 2015.
The country's Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadotir called the referendum a pivotal moment for the country's future.
"This is a referendum on whether we can end the dialogue - not on whether we join," she said at a news conference in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik.
The EU welcomed the announcement of the referendum.
Iceland has announced that it will hold a referendum on whether to reopen EU membership negotiations.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos assessed that this was an important decision.
"In a rapidly changing world, the EU offers an anchor in a community of values, prosperity and security. Accession negotiations always reflect the specific realities of each candidate country," Kosu said in a post on the X network.
However, it is currently unclear whether Iceland will continue membership negotiations from the moment the application was withdrawn or will have to start from scratch.
"Negotiations could be launched and possibly continued at a later stage, but a decision has yet to be made on this," said European Commission spokesman Markus Lammert.
