University of Iceland to Revamp Website Ahead of EU Referendum

2026-03-14 - 13:45

The University of Iceland is preparing to relaunch Evrópuvefur, its European affairs website as the country moves closer to a referendum on whether to continue negotiations on joining the European Union. The vote is expected to take place on 29 August, and recent weeks have seen a sharp rise in public interest in the topic. The university’s website, which provides academic information about the EU and European issues, has experienced a dramatic increase in visitors. What's the Story? Iceland vote on continuing EU accession negotiations: 29 August University of Iceland Európuvefur website revamp with 5 million krónur government grant Page views in February: 11,500, up from typical 500–1,500 per month The University of Iceland. Photo: Golli. Iceland Review. As reported by RÚV, last year, the website received a five million krónur grant from the government to improve and modernise the platform. This is a much needed development. The website, which operated between 2011-2013, had no mobile version. Traffic to the platform has grown rapidly. Previously it attracted between 500 and 1,500 visits per month, but February alone recorded around 11,500 page views — a rise of about 700%. Developers are also considering introducing a language model that could answer users’ questions using the website’s academic content. According to the Evrópuvefur editor Jón Gunnar Þorsteinsson, the main goal is to make reliable and balanced information accessible to the readership so they can form their own views during the national debate.