Browsing by Author "Alander, Sari"

The Arctic region is experiencing significant environmental, social and geopolitical changes as climate change impacts the region and thaws the Arctic sea-ice. The notable amount of emerging hydrocarbon and other resources as well as new navigation routes have attracted a lot of interest by a variety of Arctic and non-Arctic actors. The European Union (EU) has been one of these actors. The Arctic affairs have gained increasing attention within its institutions since the launching of the EU s Arctic policy in 2008. The purpose of this study is to find out how the Arctic is perceived in the eyes of the EU as well as how and to what extent the environmental dimension emerge in relation to other topics. A secondary purpose is to examine how these perceptions have changed since 2008. A comprehensive material is used, covering all relevant EU documents. The material is analyzed using a three-staged coding method within Grounded theory. The EU documents discuss several important topics relating to the Arctic region. This study identifies six categories of these topics. These relate to the changes that the Arctic region is facing, the emerging resources, the geopolitical situation and the governance of the region, the EU s role in the Arctic as well as the protection of the Arctic environment. The qualitative approach is mixed with quantitative aspect to find out how much attention each of these concepts get in the documents and how significant the environmental dimension is compared to the other concepts. The EU is globally recognized as an ambitious environmental actor. This study shows that the environmental aspects are well represented also in the EU s Arctic policy documents. The focus of the documents has changed over the years from Arctic resources and a range of problems towards the importance of cooperation and environmental protection in the region. Environmental protection has been motivated by the responsibilities that the EU feels towards the region. However, a goal has simultaneously been to be acknowledged as a legitimate Arctic actor, which would highly benefit the EU in a number of ways. There is nonetheless reason to presume that the EU is serious in pursuing protection of the Arctic environment and this cannot be seen merely as a means to achieve other ends.