The European Union and the Arctic: the Case of Fishery

The fisheries sector offers the European Union (EU) the opportunity to deepen its engagement in the Arctic affairs. The relevance of fisheries in the region is growing because climate change is making natural resources increasingly accessible. Additionally, the EU and the Arctic states are important fish trading partners to each other. Given this background, this chapter argues that fisheries are instrumental to the EU in its attempt to increase its role as a geopolitical actor in the region in two ways. First, fisheries, which is included in the EU Arctic Policy since 2008, is one of the sectors of the ‘sustainable blue economy’. This latter is crucial to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal (EGD) that is at the core of the EU involvement in the region. Second, the EU is an ad hoc observer of the Arctic Council (AC) and a full-fledged member of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC), the two intergovernmental forums guiding cooperation in the region. Also very importantly, the EU is a Party to a number of fishing regional and international agreements. Finally, this chapter argues that the involvement of the EU in some of the most important fisheries disputes in the region demonstrates not only the strong link between the EU and the Arctic but also the relevance of the geopolitical role played by the EU.