EU with Arctic focus
The European Union has for long neglected involvement in the arctic region of Europe. The European Commission has voted for a report which will put flesh on the bones of the EU’s Arctic policy.
Seven months ago the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, warned about the risks to international stability form the intensified competition between countries in the Arctic region. This week’s voting in the European Parliament will push for an international treaty for the protection of the Arctic, according to Financial Times writer Tony Barber.
The problem of the Arctic is that there are no comprehensive rules governing how states behave and no joint system for managing fish stocks. When it comes to oil and gas exploitation, there are no common regulations for this either. According to the US Geological Survey report, the Arctic accounts for about 22 percent of the worlds undiscovered oil and gas resources.
The idea of the EU is to build on the UN convention on the Law of the Sea, the international environmental treaties that apply for the Arctic and the work of various bodies such as the Arctic Council.
