As the ice melts and geopolitics heats up, the EU unveils a new Arctic strategy
As climate change melts the Arctic ice, opening new shipping routes and access to resources, the European Union has unveiled a new Arctic strategy to avoid falling behind in the race. The plan, called "Northern Neighbourhood", was announced in Brussels on Tuesday.
The strategy aims to prepare for rising military and commercial activity in the north driven by climate change, and calls for new transport, research and security infrastructure in the region.
Unveiling the strategy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "The Arctic is one place where the tectonic plates of geopolitics are colliding. And it's not someone else's frontier. It's part of the European Union."
She pointed to Russia's expanding military footprint and the race for emerging shipping routes and critical resources as forces reshaping Europe's security and economic future.
The policy warns that Russia is rebuilding its military presence in the Arctic and that China has growing strategic ambitions in the region. In response, the EU plans a pilot research project in 2027 using satellite and maritime observation, and will share ship-tracking data to help identify Russian shadow fleet vessels.
In the longer term, the EU wants its countries to lead a maritime security hub pooling intelligence on threats ranging from undersea cable sabotage to illegal fishing. The strategy also calls for an Arctic Cable Hub alongside NATO to monitor and protect subsea cables in the North Atlantic and the Arctic. It lacks any information on funding for these projects, however.
Finnish MEP Mika Aaltola said the new focus on the Arctic is long overdue. "Europe hasn't been thinking about the Arctic enough," he said. "Because of the ice melting and climate change, it's becoming kind of the next great game. And if that happens, then what are the European positions when it comes to Russia, China and also the United States?"
On energy, the EU sticks with its pledge not to drill for fossil fuels in the Arctic. "The EU remains committed to ensuring that oil, coal and gas stay in the ground, including in Arctic regions," the strategy reads. Instead, Brussels promises renewable energy projects in the region — but drops the old commitment to convince the rest of the world to follow its lead.
Socialist MEP Delara Burkhardt said it is good that the Commission maintains its opposition to oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, but not pressing for a global ban "weakens the EU's ability to push for stronger international protection and leaves the door open for other countries to exploit one of the world's most fragile ecosystems."
The EU's former Arctic policy, drafted in 2021, focused largely on environmental protection and committed the bloc to pursuing an international moratorium on Arctic oil and gas extraction. The new strategy shifts that balance towards security, shipping and resource extraction. Notably, Norway — which supplies a lot of energy to the EU — has made clear it will keep drilling in the Arctic regardless of the bloc's position.
Meanwhile the EU is under pressure to secure new supplies of critical raw materials to reduce its dependency on China. Under the new strategy it will continue working with Canada, Greenland, Norway and the United States on raw materials projects in the region, while insisting on the "highest social, environmental and governance standards" and respect for Indigenous Peoples' rights and the benefit of local communities.
The strategy also rebrands the EU's existing partnerships with Norway, Iceland, Canada and the United Kingdom, backed by regular summits to set joint priorities and launch projects. Altogether, the melting far north is no longer just an environmental question — in the EU's eyes it is now a central arena of security and economics, and this strategy is its bid to keep pace with its rivals there.
