Conference Agenda

The European Union (EU) is an increasingly prominent actor in Arctic affairs, despite its complex position within the region’s governance framework. Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, as both Arctic and EU member states, serve as direct conduits for the Union’s engagement in Arctic matters. Beyond these connections, the EU’s influence extends to non-member Arctic states like Norway through the European Economic Area (EEA), where it regulates key sectors such as environmental protection, fisheries management, and trade. However, the EU’s absence as an observer to the Arctic Council reveals institutional constraints that limit its formal participation in regional decision-making. The EU’s updated Arctic policy, published on October 13, 2021, signals a renewed commitment to the region’s sustainable future. It prioritizes the Arctic’s preservation as a zone of peaceful cooperation, addresses the accelerating impacts of climate change, and emphasizes the sustainable development of Arctic communities, particularly Indigenous Peoples. These goals reflect the EU’s dual role as a policy innovator and an advocate for inclusive governance in a region undergoing rapid transformation.

This research hypothesizes that the EU’s engagement in the Arctic is increasingly characterized by a strategic alignment of regulatory influence and normative ambitions, which enable it to shape Arctic outcomes despite institutional barriers. To test this hypothesis, the study will address the following questions: (1) How do the EU’s regulatory frameworks, such as the EEA, influence the environmental and economic policies of Arctic states? (2) What are the potential impacts of the EU’s updated Arctic policy on regional governance and its relations with Arctic Indigenous communities? By examining the EU’s role as both a regulatory power and a policy actor, this analysis contributes to the understanding of how the Union navigates the Arctic’s unique geopolitical, environmental, and social challenges.

The objective of this paper is to understand the influence of the European Union (EU) in the High Seas Treaty negotiations. The High Seas Treaty was adopted on 19 June 2023 after almost 20 years of negotiations. The EU participated in the discussions since the beginning in 2004. The treaty is considered as “a historic achievement” by the EU. The European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries at that time, Virginijus Sinkevicius, declared after the adoption that “the EU played a key role” in the negotiations and that he was “very proud of our outcome”. Exploratory interviews also seem to indicate that the EU had influence in the negotiations. However, the EU’s actual extent of influence and how it has influenced the negotiations remains to be determined. This paper thus answers the following question: to what extent and how did the EU influence the negotiations? The EU’s influence will be studied at two levels: EU influence on the outcome of the negotiations (at the outcome level) and EU influence in reaching an agreement (at the process level). First, the level of EU influence will be determined through a content analysis. Then, using process-tracing, the paper will develop a causal mechanism linking the EU’s position in the constellation of interests to its level of influence. The EU’s influence will be studied from the first session of the Intergovernmental Conference in 2018, when the discussions about the text of the agreement really started. The triangulation of official documents, reports and interviews will provide data to know and explain the EU’s influence in these negotiations.