GL in the EU; Partnership and Participation EIC KIC Raw Materials Northern CLC Stakeholder meeting

GL  in  the  EU;  Partnership  and  Participation   EIC  KIC  Raw  Materials  Northern  CLC  Stakeholder  meeting       Greenland  EU  relations  -­‐ ...
Author: Claude Casey
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GL  in  the  EU;  Partnership  and  Participation   EIC  KIC  Raw  Materials  Northern  CLC  Stakeholder  meeting       Greenland  EU  relations  -­‐  partnership     • Greenland  is  not  a  EU  member  but  associated  to  the  EU  according  to  the   Lisbon  Treaty.   • GL  is  one  of  25  islands,  called  “OCTs”,  which  are  all  linked  to  one  of  4  EU   member  states;  The  United  Kingdom,  The  Netherlands,  France  and   Denmark.  In  other  words,  we  are  closely  linked  to  the  EU  via  our  MS.   • The  association  to  the  Union  allows  for  certain  preferences  when  it  comes   to  trade  and  access  to  the  market  for  our  export  products.  It  also  allows   Greenland  to  access  the  EU  programmes,  for  free.   • OCTs,  the  4  EU  member  states  and  the  COM  keep  a  close  political  dialogue   on  matters  of  mutual  concern.  Important  is  the  fact  that  we  are  close   partners  with  a  region  of  more  than  500  million  people  and  for  GL  an   important  alliance  in  global  terms.   • Our  relation  to  the  EU  is  described  in  the  OAD  as  being  part  of  the  EU   family.  This  is  relevant  when  it  comes  to  the  variety  of  relationships  to   3.rd  countries  or  other  EU  Partners.  The  family  bond.     A  Joint  Declaration     • In  March  2015  a  Joint  Declaration  on  Cooperation  between  GL,  DK  and  EU   was  signed  by  the  President  of  the  Commission  and  Premier  Kielsen   together  with  the  Danish  Prime  Minister   • The  Declaration  is  a  milestone  in  GL  EU  relations  and  illustrates  the   significance  of  GL  to  our  Member  State  and  to  the  European  Union.  

 

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• The  Declaration  unites  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future,  which  is  a  very   positive  accomplishment.  The  Declaration  reiterates  the  different  focus   areas  of  cooperation  between  us  and  states  an  intention  to  further  develop   the  cooperation  on  areas  including  sustainable  development,  education,   natural  resources,  climate,  the  Arctic  and  the  social  sector.   • The  declaration  is  a  political  document,  a  document  that  respects  the  fact   that  we  have  self-­‐governance  and  that  GL  is  a  key  partner  to  respect  and   consult  on  matters  important  to  our  common  interests.     Financial  instruments;  The  Partnership  Agreement     • Currently,  a  central  part  of  the  Greenland-­‐EU  partnership  is  the   Partnership  agreement/decision,  which  is  focused  on  education.  The   agreement  secures  an  indicative  amount  of  217,8  mio.  €    Equal  to  1,6   milliard  DKK  over  the  period  2014-­‐2020  to  finance  the  implementation  of   the  “Greenland  Programming  Document”.   • The  GoG  have  decided  that  the  focal  sector  for  support  is  education  and   training.   • The  motivation  for  supporting  the  education  and  training  sector  –  you   know  is  obvious,  but  I  will  underline  it,  it  is  the  most  relevant  growth   parameter  for  our  future  prosperity  and  the  societal  development  of  our   country.     • Further  a  Fisheries  partnership  agreement  and  its  protocols  are   fundamental  in  our  EU  relations.  This  agreement  allows  the  EU  fleet  to  fish   in  Greenland  waters  for  a  financial  contribution  of  approximately  130  mio.   DKK  annually  to  the  GOG.     Letter  of  intent    

 

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• The  Letter  of  intent  on  raw  materials  was  signed  between  the  Government   of  Greenland  and  Commission  Vice-­‐President  and  the  Development   Commissioner,  in  Nuuk  on  June13th  2012.     • The  intentions  are  stated  as  close  dialogue  on  4  specific  areas,  which  are;   geological  knowledge,  analysis  of  infrastructure  and  investment  needs,   competence  building  and  finally  environmental  issues.   • From  the  EU  part  the  interests  was  and  still  is  to  secure  EUs  needs  for  raw   materials  from  a  partner  country,  GL.     • The  Commission  being  political,  had  a  wish  to  secure  that  European   Companies  were  allowed  access  to  GL  raw  materials  and  wanted  to  open   opportunities  for  sector  cooperation.   • On  June  19th  2015  the  Commission  presented  a  study  on  the  EUs  needs       with  regards  to  cooperation  with  Greenland.     • I  would  like  to  highlight  some  of  the  outcomes  of  the  report;   1. There  is  significant  potential  for  mining  of  raw  materials  in  GL,  both  in   terms  of  volume  and  value  and  in  the  breath  of  minerals  available.   2. Actions  to  be  considered  should  ideally  cover  several  of  the  four  areas   included  in  the  LoI  and  not  just  one  area.   3. Greenland  remains  a  low  risk  destination  compared  to  other  resource  rich   countries.   4. There  remain  a  number  of  significant  barriers  to  mining  in  GL  namely   those  relating  to  the  lack  of  infrastructure  and  to  the  potential   requirement  for  companies  to  process  materials  locally  in  a  country   without  infrastructure.   5. There  are  risks  related  to  the  geological  knowledge  means  in  GL,  which  is   good  by  int.  standards  but  can  be  improved.  A  concern  is  access  for   companies  to  skilled  staff.  

 

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6. Other  types  of  risks  which  are  often  crucial  elsewhere  are  quite  low  in  GL,   these  involves  risk  related  to  geopolitical  factors,  competition  from  other   economic  activities  for  land  use,  an  finally  governance  and  transparency   issues  –  where  it  is  stated  that  GL  has  a  very  open  and  well  governed   mining  legal  and  regulatory  framework.   7. A  possible  safeguard,  is  the  EIBs  possible  role  in  future  investments  in   mining  and  metal  processing  operations  out  side  the  EU  to  benefit  growth   in  the  EU,  but  the  challenge  with  this  is  that  it  would  tie  financial   assistance  to  trade  with  the  union  and  that  might  require  new  types  of   development  funding  envelopes.     8. EU  is  in  process  of  developing  an  integrated  and  coherent  Arctic  Policy,   which  should  provide  for  effective  synergies  between  various  funding   instruments  for  the  Arctic  Region  or  it  is  an  opportunity  to  promote   initiatives,  which  are  in  line  with  objectives  and  priority  areas  presented   in  the  EU  raw  materials  strategy  as  well  as  the  GL  EU  partnership  and  LoI.     I  will  now  conclude  on  the  issue  of  the  Mineral  Resource  Dialogue   between  GL  and  EU  by  quoting  the  LoI  which  states  that  “both  Greenland   and  the  EU  recognise  the  importance  of  mineral  resources  as   indispensable  inputs  to  industrial  production  and  underline  the   importance  of  Greenland  due  to  its  geostrategic  and  economic  position,  to   the  EU  sustainable  raw  materials  supply.”     Public  Diplomacy     • In  June  this  year  the  GL  Rep.  hosted  a  seminar  in  Brussels  with  focus  on   the  economic  diversification  and  sustainable  development  of  Greenland.    

 

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• Here  the  message  was  that  the  GOG  is  focusing  on  growth  and   development  of  the  business  sector.  A  solid  platform  is  needed  in  the   international  community  to  lift  the  development  of  necessary   infrastructure  to  create  growth.  International  investors  as  well  as   supporters  and  banks  are  fundamental  to  boost  the  strategies  for  the   benefit  of  Greenland  and  partners  abroad.   • Presentations  from  Greenland  addressed  the  fisheries  sector,  the  oil  and   mineral  sector  and  Arctic  challenges  in  order  to  present  an  overall   impression  of  the  investment  and  business  climate  in  Greenland.     • The  current  main  source  of  income  is  fisheries.  However,  the  stocks  of  our   primary  products  are  decreasing  due  to  changes  in  the  climate.   • Therefore,  Greenland  needs  to  find  new  means  of  income  to  diversify  our   economy.   • The  raw  materials  sector,  the  tourism  sector  and  a  continued  adaptation   of  our  fishing  sector  to  climate  change  will  be  vital  in  order  to  address  the   future  socio  economic  challenges  that  we  will  face.   • This  matches  well  with  the  KICs  commitments  to  increase  innovation   capacity,  competitiveness  and  sustainable  growth,  by  strengthening   collaboration  between  research,  industry  and  education.   • This  rounds  up  my  presentation  on  GL  EU  Partnership  and  Participation.   Thank  you  for  listening.  

 

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