Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:26:36.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Has Russia heard about the European Union’s Arcticness? The EU’s Arctic steps as seen from Russia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Natalia Skripnikova  and
Andreas Raspotnik Open the ORCID record for Andreas Raspotnik [Opens in a new window]
Natalia Skripnikova
Affiliation:
University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Andreas Raspotnik*
Affiliation:
Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Oslo, Norway The Arctic Institute, Washington, DC, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Andreas Raspotnik, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ever since 2007/2008, the European Union (EU) and its various institutional actors have been developing a dedicated EU Arctic policy, setting common positions, stressing the EU’s Arctic credentials and prominently expressing its own “Arcticness”. These Arctic steps have been thoroughly scrutinised over the past decade. Yet, research has almost ignored one particular pillar of the EU’s Arctic endeavour: the “Arctic exception” in EU–Russia relations and the related lack of a distinct Russian dimension in the EU’s Arctic policy. Similarly, little is known of how the Russian side views the EU’s Arctic policy steps taken since 2008. The extensive transdisciplinary literature on EU–Russia relations has basically ignored how the EU has been represented in Russia ever since 1991. This article examines EU and Russian Arctic policies and their relations in the European North. In attempting to explore how the EU’s “Arcticness” has been presented, narrated and perceived in Russian media between 2008 and 2018, we draw upon an analysis of articles published on various Russian media platforms during that period. The study identified four core narratives of the EU’s engagement in the Arctic: the EU as player, as seeker, as prohibitor and as partner. These narratives provide evidence of the “Arctic exception” in EU–Russia relations, as well as offering some related explanations.

Keywords

European UnionArcticRussiaNorthern DimensionEuropean Arctic
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 55 , Issue 6 , November 2019 , pp. 441 - 451
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The original version of this article was published with an incorrect author affiliation. A notice detailing this has been published and the errors rectified in the online PDF and HTML version.

References

Aalto, P. (2013). Explaining the “Arctic Exception” in European Union-Russia relations: What is missing? The Northern Review, 37, 101–125.Google Scholar
Aalto, P., Dalby, S., & Harle, V. (2003). The critical geopolitics of northern Europe: Identity politics unlimited. Geopolitics, 8(1), 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akhmadiev, E. (2017, March 20). Eвропарламент призвал запретить нефтедобычу в Арктике (The European parliament called for banning oil production in the Arctic). LIFE. Retrieved from экономика https://life.ru/t/экономика/986770/ievroparlamient_prizval_zaprietit_nieftiedobychu_v_arktikie.Google Scholar
Archer, C., & Etzold, T. (2008). The EU’s northern dimension: Blurring frontiers between Russia and the EU North? NORDEUROPAforum, 1, 7–28.Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (1999). Minutes. Arctic council senior arctic officials meeting, Washington, D.C., U.S.A, November 18–19, 1999. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/273.Google Scholar
Baev, P. K. (2018). Russia’s ambivalent status-quo/revisionist policies in the arctic. Arctic Review on Law and Politics, 9, 408–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borgerson, S. G. (2008). Arctic meltdown: The economic and security implications of global warming. Foreign Affairs, 87(2), 63–77.Google Scholar
Browning, C. S. (Ed.). (2005). Remaking Europe in the margins: Northern Europe after the enlargements. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Browning, C. S. (2010). Experimenting in the northern laboratory: The emergence of an EU approach to security governance in the north and its broader significance. European Security, 19(3), 395–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers, M. (2017). Crises and international cooperation: An Arctic case study. International Relations, 1–28.Google Scholar
Cadier, D. (2018). The geopoliticisation of the EU’s eastern partnership. Geopolitics, 24(1), 71–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chernenko, E. (2013, May 14). Россия ограничивает полярный круг (Russia limits the Arctic Circle). Kommersant. Retrieved from https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2187097.Google Scholar
Comiso, J. C., Parkinson, C. L., Gersten, R., & Stock, L. (2008). Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(L01703), 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commission of the European Communities. (2007, October 10). An integrated maritime policy for the European Union (COM(2007) 575 final), Brussels, 10.10.2007.Google Scholar
Council of the European Union. (2005, November 18). Guidelines for the development of a political declaration and a policy framework document for the Northern Dimension Policy from 2007, 14358/1/05 REV 1 (pp. 1–6). Retrieved from http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST143582005REV 1.Google Scholar
Council of the European Union. (2014). European Union Maritime Security Strategy (11205/14), Brussels, 24 June 2014.Google Scholar
De Botselier, B., Piqueres, S. L., & Schunz, S. (2018). Addressing the “Arctic Paradox”: environmental policy integration in the European Union’s emerging Arctic Policy (No. 3/2018). Retrieved from College of Europe https://www.coleurope.eu/research-paper/addressing-arctic-paradox-environmental-policy-integration-european-unions-emerging.Google Scholar
Dementieva, A. (2018, September 26). Евросоюз активизирует свою политику в Арктике (EU activates its Policy in the Arctic). InfoRos. Retrieved from http://inforos.ru/ru/?module=news&action=view&id=76500.Google Scholar
Depledge, D. (2018). Britain and the Arctic. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Depledge, D., & Tulupov, D. (2016, May 17). EU-Russia relations in the Arctic on ice. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from European Council on Foreign Relations http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_eu_russia_relations_in_the_arctic_on_ice.Google Scholar
Eremina, N. (2016, December 22). Евросоюз включается в «большую игру» в Арктике (The EU joins the “big game” in the Arctic). EvraziyaEkspert. Retrieved from http://eurasia.expert/evrosoyuz-vklyuchaetsya-v-bolshuyu-igru-za-arktiku/.Google Scholar
European Commission. (2010). Facing the challenge of the safety of offshore oil and gas activities (COM(2010) 560 final), Brussels, 12.10.2010.Google Scholar
European Council. (1999). Helsinki European council, presidency conclusions, 00300/1/99.Google Scholar
European External Action Service. (2018, February 13). EU Ambassador at large for the Arctic to visit Russia (press release). Retrieved from https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/russia_en/39783/EU Ambassador at Large for the Arctic to visit Russia.Google Scholar
Eurostat. (2018, April). EU imports of energy products – recent developments. Retrieved June 12, 2018, from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/EU_imports_of_energy_products_-_recent_developments#Main_suppliers_of_natural_gas_and_petroleum_oils_to_the_EU.Google Scholar
Ferguson, I. (2018). Between new spheres of influence: Ukraine’s geopolitical misfortune. Geopolitics, 23(2), 285–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fink, S. (2011, December 19). Major victory as Russia bans trade in harp seal skins. Retrieved January 1, 2019, from International Fund for Animal Welfare website: https://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/major-victory-russia-bans-trade-harp-seal-skins.Google Scholar
Forsberg, T. (2013). The power of the European Union: What explains the EU’s (lack of) influence on Russia? Politique Européenne, 39(1), 22–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsberg, T., & Haukkala, H. (2016). The European Union and Russia. London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foxall, A. (2017). From Evropa to Gayropa: A critical geopolitics of the European Union as seen from Russia. Geopolitics, 24(1), 174–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulevich, V. (2011, August 16). Арктический вопрос во внешней политике ЕС (The Arctic question in EU Foreign Policy). International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations. Retrieved from https://interaffairs.ru/news/show/7833.Google Scholar
Haglund-Morrissey, A. (2008). Conceptualizing the “New” northern dimension: A common policy based on sectoral partnerships. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 16(2), 203–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haukkala, H. (2010). The EU-Russia strategic partnership: The limits of Post-sovereignty in international relations. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haukkala, H. (2015). From cooperative to contested Europe? The conflict in Ukraine as a culmination of a long-term crisis in EU–Russia relations. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 23(1), 25–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heikkilä, M. (2006). The Northern Dimension (No. 188c/2006). Retrieved from Europe Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland website: http://www.eurooppatiedotus.fi/public/download.aspx?ID=21875&GUID=%7B4B7A9DB6-5A3E-41AF-B007-05DADB6D4C56%7D.Google Scholar
Heininen, L. (1998). Finland as a northern country in the New North Europe. In Heininen, L., & Käkönen, J. (Eds.), The new North of Europe: Perspectives on the Northern Dimension (pp. 25–47). Tampere: Tampere Peace Research Institute.Google Scholar
Heininen, L. (2017). The Arctic, Baltic, and North-Atlantic “cooperative regions” in “Wider Northern Europe”: Similarities and differences. Journal of Baltic Studies, 48(4), 435–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
High Representative. (2016). Shared vision, common action: A stronger Europe: A global strategy for the European Union’s foreign and security policy. Retrieved from http://europa.eu/globalstrategy/sites/globalstrategy/files/pages/files/eugs_review_web_13.pdf.Google Scholar
High Representative, & European Commission. (2008). Climate change and international security (S113/08), Brussels, 14 March 2008.Google Scholar
International Fund for Animal Welfare. (2009, March 18). Extraordinary victory for seals: Russia bans the hunt for all harp seals less than one year of age. Retrieved January 1, 2019, from https://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/extraordinary-victory-seals-russia-bans-hunt-all-harp-seals-less-one-year-age.Google Scholar
Keil, K., & Raspotnik, A. (2014). The European Union’s gateways to the Arctic. European Foreign Affairs Review, 19(1), 101–120.Google Scholar
Keskitalo, E. C. H. (2004). Negotiating the Arctic: The construction of an international region. New York & London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klimenko, E. (2016). Russia’s Arctic security policy: Still quiet in the high north? (No. SIPRI Policy Paper 45, February 2016). Retrieved from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). http://books.sipri.org/files/PP/SIPRIPP45.pdf.Google Scholar
Knecht, S., & Keil, K. (2013). Arctic geopolitics revisited: Spatialising governance in the circumpolar North. The Polar Journal, 3(1), 178–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobza, P. (2015). Civilian power Europe in the Arctic: How far can the European Union go north? (No. EU Diplomacy Paper 01/2015). Retrieved from College of Europe website: https://www.coleurope.eu/system/files_force/research-paper/edp_2015_1_kobza.pdf?download=1.Google Scholar
Koivurova, T., Kokko, K., Duyck, S., Sellheim, N., & Stępień, A. (2012). The present and future competence of the European Union in the Arctic. Polar Record, 48(4), 361–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konyshev, V., Sergunin, A., & Subbotin, S. (2017). Russia’s Arctic strategies in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Polar Journal, 7(1), 104–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuznetsov, B., & Sergunin, A. (2019). EU-Russia cross-border cooperation. In Raik, K., & Rácz, A. (Eds.), Post-crimea shift in EU-Russia relations: From fostering interdependence to managing vulnerabilities (pp. 222–249). Tallinn: International Centre for Defence and Security.Google Scholar
Laine, J. (2011). In search of balance: Russia and the EU in the North. Polar Geography, 34(3), 163–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipponen, P. (1997). The European Union needs a policy for the Northern Dimension. In Heininen, L., & Langlais, R. (Eds.), BEARing the European North: The northern dimension and alternative scenarios (pp. 29–35). Rovaniemi: Arctic Centre, University of Lapland.Google Scholar
Maxeiner, D. (2007, August 14). Der Eisberg ruft noch länger. Die Welt. Retrieved from http://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article6069758/Der-Eisberg-ruft-noch-laenger.html.Google Scholar
Myrjord, A. (2003). Governance beyond the Union: EU boundaries in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region. European Foreign Affairs Review, 8(2), 239–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nilsen, T. (2012, October 3). Norway: “EU has no jurisdiction in the Arctic.” BarentsObserver. Retrieved from http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/norway-eu-has-no-jurisdiction-arctic-03-10.Google Scholar
Nitoiu, C. (2016). Towards conflict or cooperation? The Ukraine crisis and EU-Russia relations. Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea, 16(3), 375–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Offerdal, K. (2011). The EU in the Arctic: In pursuit of legitimacy and influence. International Journal, 66(4), 861–877.Google Scholar
Ojanen, H. (2000). The EU and Its “Northern Dimension”: An actor in search of a policy, or a policy in search of an actor? European Foreign Affairs Review, 5(3), 359–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Østhagen, A. (2013). The European Union - an Arctic Actor? Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, 15(2), 71–92.Google Scholar
Østhagen, A., Sharp, G. L., & Hilde, P. S. (2018). At opposite poles: Canada’s and Norway’s approaches to security in the Arctic. The Polar Journal, 8(1), 163–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, M., & Monroe, K. R. (1998). Narrative in political science. Annual Review of Political Science, 1, 315–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pedanov, J. (2018, February 17). Арктика – место сотрудничества (Arctic - a Place of Cooperation). International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations. Retrieved from https://interaffairs.ru/news/show/19357.Google Scholar
Rafaelsen, B. (2014). Mid-term evaluation of the EU support to the Northern Dimension partnership. Retrieved from https://library.euneighbours.eu/content/mid-term-evaluation-eu-support-northern-dimension-partnership.Google Scholar
Raspotnik, A. (2018). The European Union and the geopolitics of the Arctic. Cheltenham & Northampton: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richmond, H. J. (2002). Learners’ lives: A narrative analysis. The Qualitative Report, 7(3), 1–14.Google Scholar
Schatz, V. J., Proelss, A., & Liu, N. (2019). The 2018 agreement to prevent unregulated high seas fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean: A critical analysis. International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 34(2), 195–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, J. W. (2006). Wider Europe: Geopolitics of inclusion and exclusion at the EU’s new external boundaries. In Scott, J. W. (Ed.), EU enlargement, region building and shifting borders of inclusion and exclusion (pp. 17–34). Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Sellheim, N. (2015a). Policies and influence: Tracing and locating the EU seal products trade regulation. International Community Law Review, 17(1), 3–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellheim, N. (2015b). The goals of the EU seal products trade regulation: From effectiveness to consequence. Polar Record, 51(3), 274–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sergunin, A., & Konyshev, V. (2014). Russia in search of its Arctic strategy: Between hard and soft power? The Polar Journal, 4(1), 69–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SpiegelOnline. (2007, August 17). Arctic Thaw: Merkel Inspects a Changing Climate in Greenland. Retrieved from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/arctic-thaw-merkel-inspects-a-changing-climate-in-greenland-a-500486.html.Google Scholar
Stang, G. (2016). EU Arctic policy in regional context (No. EP/EXPO/B/FWC/AFET/2015-01/03). Retrieved from European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies (Policy Department) website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/578017/EXPO_STU(2016)578017_EN.pdf.Google Scholar
Staun, J. (2017). Russia’s strategy in the Arctic: Cooperation, not confrontation. Polar Record, 53(3), 314–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stępień, A., & Raspotnik, A. (2015). Exploring reasons & remedies for the EU’s incapability to devise an “Arctic policy”: The quest for coherence. In Heininen, L., Exner-Pirot, H., & Plouffe, J. (Eds.), Arctic yearbook 2015 (pp. 432–436). Retrieved from https://www.arcticyearbook.com/images/Articles_2015/briefing-notes/4.BN_RaspotnikStepien.pdf.Google Scholar
Stępień, A., & Raspotnik, A. (2016a). The EU’s Arctic future following the spring of statements. In Heininen, L., Exner-Pirot, H., & Plouffe, J. (Eds.), Arctic yearbook 2016 (pp. 396–400). Retrieved from http://arcticyearbook.com/images/Articles_2016/briefing-notes/10-AY2016-Stepien.pdf.Google Scholar
Stępień, A., & Raspotnik, A. (2016b). The EU’s new Arctic communication: Not-So-Integrated, Not-So-Disappointing? Rovaniemi: Arctic Centre, University of Lapland.Google Scholar
TASS. (2017, December 12). В МИД РФ заявили, что Арктика должна оставаться регионом мира и стабильности (The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Arctic should remain a region of peace and stability). Retrieved from https://tass.ru/politika/4806088.Google Scholar
The Russian Government. (2008, September 18). The Foundations of Russian Federation Policy in the Arctic until 2020 and Beyond. Retrieved from http://government.ru/info/18359/.Google Scholar
The Russian Government. (2014, April 21). Sotsial’no-Ekonomicheskoe Razvitie Arkticheskoy Zony Rossiyskoi Federatsii na Period do 2020 Goda [Socio-Economic Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2020]. Retrieved from http://government.ru/docs/11967/.Google Scholar
Tretyakova, M. (2018, July 26). Россия и Евросоюз совместно улучшат жизнь приграничных северных регионов (Russia and the European Union will jointly improve the life of the Northern border regions). Parlamentskaya Gazeta. Retrieved from https://www.pnp.ru/economics/rossiya-i-evrosoyuz-sovmestno-uluchshat-zhizn-prigranichnykh-severnykh-regionov.html.Google Scholar
Tulupov, D. (2014, February 10). Исландия: «Остров свободы» в Арктике (Iceland: “Island of Freedom” in the Arctic’). Russian International Affairs Council. Retrieved from https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/islandiya-ostrov-svobody-v-arktike/.Google Scholar
Tulupov, D., & Tsarenko, E. V. (2019). European Union’s approach to the Arctic policy development through the lens of the Russian regional interests. Arktika i Sever, 37, 82–93.Google Scholar
Utkin, S. (2012, March 21). ЕС и Арктика: присматриваясь к будущему (The EU and the Arctic: Looking to the Future). Russian International Affairs Council. Retrieved from https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/es-i-arktika-prismatrivayas-k-budushchemu/.Google Scholar
Weber, S. (2014). The development of an EU Arctic policy: Interests, objectives and initiatives. In Sprüds, A. & Rostoks, T. (Eds.), Perceptions and Strategies of Arcticness in Sub-Arctic Europe (pp. 43–74). Riga: Latvian Institute of International Affairs.Google Scholar
Wegge, N. (2012). The EU and the Arctic: European foreign policy in the making. Arctic Review on Law and Politics, 3(1), 6–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wegge, N. (2013). Politics between science, law and sentiments: explaining the European Union’s ban on trade in seal products. Environmental Politics, 22(2), 255–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson Rowe, E. (2009). Policy aims and political realities in the Russian North. In Wilson Rowe, E. (Ed.), Russia and the North (pp. 1–15). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson Rowe, E. (2018). Arctic governance: Power in cross-border cooperation. Manchester: Manchester University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson Rowe, E., & Blakkisrud, H. (2014). A new kind of arctic power? Russia’s policy discourses and diplomatic practices in the circumpolar north. Geopolitics, 19(1), 66–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar