The present and future competence of the European Union in the Arctic

Polar Record ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Koivurova ◽  
Kai Kokko ◽  
Sebastien Duyck ◽  
Nikolas Sellheim ◽  
Adam Stepien
Keyword(s):  
International Negotiations ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
The Third ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
The Eu

ABSTRACTThe European Union's (EU's) intention of becoming a permanent observer in the Arctic Council and the reluctance of Arctic actors to grant it that status have made the union's aspirations in the Arctic the subject of a continuing debate. The discussion appears to be dominated by geographical considerations and the EU's gradually emerging Arctic policy. This article puts forward a different view of the EU's presence in the region, one drawing on an analysis of relevant EU competences. As a complex international actor, the EU has acquired a broad array of decision-making powers from its member states, powers that partly extend to Iceland and Norway via the EEA Agreement. Moreover, the EU has in many cases become a relevant actor in international negotiations and treaty making processes the outcomes of which are of crucial importance for the governance of the Arctic. Our argument in the third and concluding section is that only by including the EU in Arctic governance can the international community provide better prospects for the union to sensitise its policies and discourses to the Arctic realities and for other Arctic actors to understand how the union functions. This argument is supported by an analysis of the EU's restrictions on the import of seal products and the ensuing litigation.

scholarly journals Review of recent EU funded research projects from the perspective of urban sound planning: do the results cope with the needs of Europe’s noise policy?

Noise Mapping ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Alves ◽  
Joachim Scheuren ◽  
Beate Altreuther
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Action Programme ◽  
Funding Support ◽  
Dissemination Of Results ◽  
The Eu

AbstractNoise pollution is one of the major environmental problems affecting European citizens in urban areas. Although the Environmental Noise Directive is in force since 2002, there is still a gap between defined objectives and outcomes. The EU Seventh Environment Action Programme attempts to achieve the reduction of noise pollution by means of more effective European noise policies. This must be coupled with providing assistance to local administrations on dealing with existing noise problems, for example through Urban Sound Planners. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a systematic review of European projects addressing urban sound planning topics and furthermore an overview of the most relevant research results that can be applied by practitioners. In order to understand the European funding strategy, the most valued research topics (number of projects and funding support) are assessed. A key finding of this review is the disagreement between air traffic noise research funding and its importance on overall noise exposure. Another finding is that the scientific knowledge for urban sound planning exists but it requires adequately dissemination of results, among the policy makers and local authorities, who are usually responsible for policy implementation.

The EU, the Arctic, and Arctic Indigenous Peoples

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 427-465
Author(s):  
Federica Scarpa
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Problematic Relationship ◽  
Strong Commitment ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
The Eu

Acknowledging the EU’s problematic relationship with Arctic indigenous peoples, and considering that it is currently struggling to find its role within the Arctic governance, this paper argues that a more committed approach toward Arctic indigenous peoples by the EU would not only be in line with the EU’s strong commitment toward human rights promotion worldwide and the relevance accorded to indigenous peoples within the gradual formulation of an Arctic Policy, but could also highly benefit the advancement of indigenous peoples rights in the Arctic while positively strengthening the EU’s role within Arctic governance.

scholarly journals Shared Tasks, but Separated Controls: Building the System of Control for Shared Administration in an EU Multi-Jurisdictional Setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-553
Author(s):  
Miroslava SCHOLTEN
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Public Power ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Eu

In order to address “wicked problems”, complex, multi-level governance structures must be established. These structures in turn require sophisticated systems of controls over public power to safeguard the rule of law. This seems to have been ignored in EU legislative practice and relevant research. This article argues that future research and legislative design of controls over public power in the EU need to be guided by the principle of connecting, aligning and making interplay between relevant concepts, institutions, procedures and scopes of different types of control belonging to the many jurisdictions, whose actors are involved in the executing of (shared) tasks in the EU. Connecting the disciplines that study these issues is a necessary prerequisite to this endeavour.

Arctic Policy in the European Union

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Njord Wegge ◽  
Cristina-Elena Merticaru
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
System Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Policy ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
The Eu

The EU’s Arctic policy process represents and exemplifies a process of foreign-policy formation where forces from the Union’s internal dimension, involving tensions between member-state and community-level interests, have interplayed with influences from external actors and impacts from the system level in global politics. Going back to challenges with its relationship to Greenland, following the Kingdom of Denmark joining the EU in 1973, the Union’s Arctic relations have often been complex and challenging. The difficulties have ranged from the need to acquire better knowledge of the geographic and cultural properties of the Arctic, understanding the role of indigenous lifestyles and cultures; to comprehending the dynamics within and the roles of key regimes in the region, such as United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Arctic Council. After a decade of gradual policy development, it appears that the EU, with the European Parliament’s resolution of March 16, 2017, on an “Integrated European Union Policy for the Arctic,” has achieved striking a more appropriate balance between the role as passive observer and as proactive actor in the High North.

scholarly journals Has Russia heard about the European Union’s Arcticness? The EU’s Arctic steps as seen from Russia

Polar Record ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 441-451
Author(s):  
Natalia Skripnikova ◽  
Andreas Raspotnik
Keyword(s):  
The Arctic ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
European North ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
Institutional Actors ◽  
Policy Setting ◽  
The Eu

AbstractEver since 2007/2008, the European Union (EU) and its various institutional actors have been developing a dedicated EU Arctic policy, setting common positions, stressing the EU’s Arctic credentials and prominently expressing its own “Arcticness”. These Arctic steps have been thoroughly scrutinised over the past decade. Yet, research has almost ignored one particular pillar of the EU’s Arctic endeavour: the “Arctic exception” in EU–Russia relations and the related lack of a distinct Russian dimension in the EU’s Arctic policy. Similarly, little is known of how the Russian side views the EU’s Arctic policy steps taken since 2008. The extensive transdisciplinary literature on EU–Russia relations has basically ignored how the EU has been represented in Russia ever since 1991. This article examines EU and Russian Arctic policies and their relations in the European North. In attempting to explore how the EU’s “Arcticness” has been presented, narrated and perceived in Russian media between 2008 and 2018, we draw upon an analysis of articles published on various Russian media platforms during that period. The study identified four core narratives of the EU’s engagement in the Arctic: the EU as player, as seeker, as prohibitor and as partner. These narratives provide evidence of the “Arctic exception” in EU–Russia relations, as well as offering some related explanations.

scholarly journals Norge og EU – partnere i Arktis

Nordlit ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Njord Wegge
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Common Market ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Cooperative Approach ◽  
Arctic State ◽  
The Common ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
The Eu

This article raises three main questions: (i) What characterizes the EEC/EU's relationship to the Arctic? (ii) What issues/areas have caused problems for the EU in becoming a more relevant actor in the Arctic? (iii) To what degree has Norway been able to exert influence on the Union's ongoing Arctic policy development? By chronologically reviewing the EEC/EU's relationship to the Arctic the article demonstrates that the intensity and interest for the Northern region has varied dramatically from great interest to near ignorance. While the Greenlandic population in 1982, due to cultural and economic disputes, left the EEC, the Union's most recent challenges with respect to becoming a relevant actor in the Arctic has concerned disagreements with some of the Arctic states. These disputes have primarily included discord on 1. The Law of the seas' role in the Arctic, 2. the EU's desire to become a permanent observer in the Arctic Council and finally, 3. The EU's ban on seal products in the Common market. The article concludes by describing how Norway has been one, if not the most, important Arctic state for the Union, and that Norway has benefitted from a cooperative approach towards the EU. The cooperative approach has indirectly given Norway an opportunity to influence the outcome of the EU's Arctic policy.

scholarly journals European Union and Cooperation in the Arctic Council

2021 ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
Arseniy V. KIRGIZOV-BARSKIY ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
The Eu

Since 2008, the European Union has unsuccessfully tried to obtain permanent observer status in the Arctic Council, the central cooperation forum in the Arctic. The analysis shows that the EU's failures in this area are connected both with its location mostly outside of the region and remoteness from the northern realities, as well as global geopolitical tensions. However, the EU has had de facto observer ad hoc status since 2013, allowing it to participate in almost all formats of interaction in the Arctic Council. Considering this fact, the permanent observer status has rather a symbolic meaning and is equivalent to joining a kind of “privileged Arctic club”. An analysis of the EU's functioning in its relations with the Arctic Council and its members shows that the EU is ready to adapt and listen to the opinion of the Arctic countries in order to become a legitimate Arctic actor. The Arctic Council is of uneven importance for the different EU member states: Denmark, Finland and Sweden are full members, several countries are permanent observers, but most EU countries are not interested in the Arctic issues. Because of this multifaceted nature, the collective EU is more of an extra-regional player on the platform, but one with serious Arctic claims. The EU is actively working on a common Arctic policy. It is represented in the Arctic Council by the Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs, introduced in 2017, who acts in coordination with the European Commission and the member states concerned. The EU's overall approach is not unsuccessful: it has managed to engage more member states on the Arctic vector, and European expertise and input on sustainable development issues is already becoming an integral part of the AC's work and promises to evolve further.

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