Reykjavik - Iceland's former ruling party Friday signalled it would accept holding a national referendum on membership in the European Union but remains opposed to joining the bloc.

A broad majority of the Independence Party delegates backed that stance at a party conference. They further said there should be a second referendum on a possible membership agreement with the EU.

Citing the need to protect Icelandic interests, including its fishing waters, the party said it believes that "EU membership will not be in the interest of Iceland."

The main benefit of EU membership was linked to monetary issues, the party said.

The Independence Party has been the main force in Iceland's politics for the past two decades. But in January, the party and its premier Geir Haarde was forced out of office by mass protests in the wake of the global economic crisis.

Early elections are due April 25.

The party conference opened Thursday and was due over the weekend to elect a new leader.

Haarde, 57, is soon to undergo treatment for cancer.

In a keynote speech on Thursday, Haarde accepted "part" of the blame for the North Atlantic country's economic woes, citing how the country's banks were privatized.

If the party had kept to its original policy of dispersed ownership "chances are that the banks would not have been as aggressive and had taken less risk," he said.

"I am partly responsible that this was done in that way at the time and it is the right thing to do to apologize," he said.

In October, Iceland's main banks were taken over by the government. Since then the economy has contracted severely and unemployment is rising. (dpa)