The European Parliament is in the process of updating their Arctic Strategy and the Barents Regional Council wants be included in the process. In a statement to the EU, the regional leaders of the Barents Region stress the need for a regional focus in the EU policy for the High North.
- The Barents Regional Council will encourage the European Parliament to include the Barents Regional Council, and the regional level in general, in future discussions on development of an EU Arctic Policy, the final conclusion of the statement reads.
Local processing
The Arctic region is rich on natural resources and the Barents Regional Council underlines the importance of focusing on regional development of the policy on extraction of natural resources.
- The Barents region must not only serve as a resource base for the rest of the world. There must also be a significant focus on local processing of the resources, says chair of the Regional Council, Pia Svendsgaard, who is County Governor of Troms County in northern Norway.
The European Parliament has made a draft report on their sustainable EU-policy on the high north. It is a comment to the ongoing political process on developing a new arctic strategy for the EU. A change from the parliament’s resolution on Arctic policy from 2008 is that the focus now is to recognize the right of people in the high north to set the premises of resource development in the north.
No “Museum”
With increased focus on climate change, it is important for the council that the Arctic region bears special responsibility for the vulnerable nature of the north. However, the Arctic must not be seen as a museum. It is an area with substantial growth potential and the effects of melting ice are also creating opportunities for economic development in the Arctic region, like the opening of the Northern Sea Route.
The Barents Regional Council writes in the statement that they hope the councils contributions to the draft report will be welcomed and hope for a policy dialogue with the European Parliament concerning Arctic Policy in the future.
