Brussels in the Arctic: European diplomacy and the transformation of the Arctic Council

This paper investigates the shifting geopolitics of Arctic diplomacy and the role of the European Union (EU) in the process. I examine the tension between old-timers and newcomers in Arctic governance. The old-timers include primarily Arctic states, as only they have full membership in the Arctic Council, the principal international governance body in the Arctic. The newcomers include other diplomatic actors, including other states as well as international and transnational institutions, such as the EU. As the union is pursuing greater presence in Arctic governance, the EU’s collective interests intersect uneasily with those of its Arctic member states. The paper examines the EU’s (as distinct from its member states’) efforts to shape Arctic governance both directly and via the Arctic Council member states. It helps us to better understand how the union exercises its regulatory power in matters, such as Arctic governance, over which it has little direct jurisdiction. The empirical material is derived from documentary evidence as well as dozens of qualitative on-on-one interviews on the production of EU diplomatic expertise. My conceptual and methodological contribution is to our understanding of the EU’s diplomatic and regulatory power.