Who Owns the Arctic?

European Parliament pushy, ill-informed on Arctic, Canadian diplomats say

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press, 24 March 2011

Canadian diplomats are facing a determined and often ill-informed push by European lawmakers to increase their influence in the Arctic, documents show.

Briefing notes obtained under Access to Information legislation suggest many members of the increasingly influential European Parliament consider Canada a barrier to Europe gaining the larger role in Arctic governance it wants. The same notes suggest those parliamentarians understand little of the region they seek to influence.

"There is increasing attention to the Arctic within the European Parliament," says the March 15, 2010, note for officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, written after a meeting of the parliament.

"The wide range of knowledge and, at times, stunning lack of knowledge on the Arctic caused our Norwegian contacts also attending the debate to note 'we have our work cut out for us.' "

Arctic diplomacy requires building a bigger igloo

Michael Byers, Ottawa Citizen, February 8, 2010

Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon has taken a bold step into the sometimes frosty domain of polar politics, inviting the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway to a meeting in Chelsea, Quebec on March 29. The mini-summit will take place immediately before a gathering of G8 foreign ministers in Gatineau that same evening and the following day.

Nunavut premier wants EU barred from Arctic Council

CBC News, April 15, 2009

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak says the European Union should not be allowed to join the Arctic Council, given its proposal to ban the import of seal products.

The EU is one of several bodies that have applied to be permanent observers at the council, an intergovernmental forum comprising eight Arctic countries, including Canada and the United States, as well as Arctic indigenous groups.

Cold War in the Arctic?

Countries Seek Piece of Pie

Gerd Braune, Der Spiegel, March 23, 2009

As it stands, Arctic policy is already a dense network of legal and political agreements between different national and supranational stakeholders. Now the European Union wants to play a greater role in shaping it.

In November 2008, the EU Commission published a report entitled "The European Union and the Arctic Region," which was submitted as a "communication" to the European Parliament and the Council. This "communication" is seen as the first step in the development of a systematic EU Arctic policy that addresses not only the greater potential for economic utilization resulting from climate change but also the threat to the Arctic environment posed by both climate change and human encroachment. Moreover, with this document the European Union has shifted Arctic policy beyond the inner circle of polar powers and made it an international issue. ...

For the full text, see: Countries Seek Piece of Pie

No need for new international treaty on the Arctic

BarentsObserver.com  January 20, 2009

At the international conference “Arctic Frontiers”, Norway, EU and Russia agreed that there is no need for any new international treaty on the Arctic.

Both Norway and the European Union believe that the UN Sea Treaty, The Arctic Council, The International Maritime Organization and the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf are sufficient instruments for management of the Arctic and the waiting climate changes.

Lax laws threaten Arctic, group says

Co-operative agreement between nations necessary to protect key areas, World Wildlife Fund reports

Bob Weber, Canadian Press, January 21, 2009

As more and more nations spell out their plans for increasingly accessible Arctic waters, a study says huge gaps in international law are leaving the sensitive region vulnerable to environmental damage from a rush for resources. ...

For the full text, see: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/574423

Arctic sovereignty not under threat: Cannon

Bob Weber, Canadian Press, January 13, 2009

Canada's Arctic sovereignty is not under increased threat despite recent forthright statements from the United States and the European Union spelling out their interests in the region, says Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. ...

For the full text, see: Arctic sovereignty not under threat

Arctic G5 vow to freeze out international legal regime

Canada signs on for ambitious plans

Randy Boswell, Ottawa Citizen, May 29, 2008, A1

ILULISSAT, Greenland - An Arctic Ocean summit aimed at easing territorial tensions among the five nations bordering the northern sea -- including Canada -- appeared to evolve yesterday into something more substantial: a kind of Arctic G5 with ambitious plans for overseeing polar oil and mineral exploration, maritime security, transportation and environmental regulation.

EU report sets up Arctic turf war

Randy Boswell, Ottawa Citizen, November 22, 2008, A5

A report by European Union executives urging the federation to assume a bigger role in governing the Arctic, exploiting its resources and protecting its environment is a "gauntlet" tossed in front of Canada and other polar powers, says one of this country's leading experts on Arctic issues.

University of Calgary political scientist Rob Huebert -- describing a European Commission report released Thursday in Brussels as an EU attempt to "redesign the Arctic to be a backyard of Europe" -- said the document portends a host of diplomatic challenges for Canada and the four other nations that have Arctic Ocean coastlines, as well as strong incentives to extract oil and gas, and control shipping through the increasingly ice-free region.

"This is really troubling for Canadian interests," Mr. Huebert told Canwest News Service yesterday. "This is Europe trying to muscle in on the formulation of the governance system for the Arctic."

EU's Arctic Intentions Worry Canadians

Mark Iype, Embassy Magazine, December 10, 2008

The European Commission's ambassador to Canada does not understand why a report on the Arctic released last month has some politicians and experts worried that Europe is challenging Canada's sovereignty in the polar region.

"I find it very strange that Canada could look upon the European Union as a threat," said Ambassador Dorian Prince from his home in Ottawa. "I suppose I should feel a little flattered that they see us that way, but I would have thought it would have been in Canada's best interest to be in close co-ordination with the EU and like-minded states."