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.

Security issues were part of the first manifestation of European Union (EU) attention given to the Arctic region. Geopolitical implications and security aspects were only hinted at or, perhaps more accurately, intentionally avoided, in the pronouncements of EU institutions, except to a certain extent the Parliament, which is less constrained by considerations of political opportunity and by the need to present a united front to the outside world. Security issues deriving from climate change prompted the development of an embryonic EU Arctic policy. The Strategy argues for a stronger EU to counteract instability and security threats, including disruptions induced by climate change. The EU fully recognizes the nexus between climate change and Arctic security and stability. The EU’s concrete and diplomatic efforts for effective mitigation and adaptation policies, at the European and global level, can be regarded as its most important contribution to Arctic security issues.