ABSTRACT
Security issues linked to climate change and enlargement to northern countries were at the origin of the EU’s Arctic policy. Security, where competence rests mainly with Member States, has remained in the background in the slow elaboration of the policy since 2008. The EU, for which the Arctic remains of peripheral interest and which is yet to be fully accepted as an Arctic partner, has refrained from taking strong positions on security, while repeatedly expressing its will to contribute to existing cooperation in the Arctic through action on research, climate, environment, maritime safety, and cross-border programmes.
