Greenland has received billions in support from Denmark and the EU in recent times. Interest in Greenland will not decrease in the future, says analysis from researcher.
After its withdrawal from the EC, which later became the EU, in 1985, Greenland has sought revenue opportunities that will cover more self-sustaining opportunities. Now cooperation with the EU has flared up again and it will probably not decrease in the future, assesses a researcher in international studies.
The EU Commission has proposed that the subsidy to Greenland be doubled to four billion kroner (536 million euros) for the period 2028–2034. And not long after—actually last week—Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that Denmark will give an extra 1.6 billion kroner to Greenland in addition to the state’s block grant of 4.1 billion kroner.
Same Idea As The Faroe Islands
And while the Faroe Islands will have their block grant reduced by Denmark at their own request, more support will go to Greenland. And that is probably not entirely in line with the idea of self-government.
“You could say that the Self-Government Act from 2009 was in a way the same idea as the Faroese one, that you should at least put a cap on the block grant and preferably you should have income from the mining industry that made it possible to reduce the block grant,” says senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS, Ulrik Pram Gad to KNR.
He researches the change of the Commonwealth and the Greenland-Danish relationship in the post-colonial period.
“Economic growth has simply not started in Greenland, while the costs of trying to maintain a somewhat high level of service in a very vast country are increasing,” notes Ulrik Pram Gad.
Back With Old Friends
Greenland has therefore had a dialogue with various countries in search of investors to kick-start economic growth. And billions in aid from the EU are being followed with interest by Ulrik Pram Gad to see what it leads to. And perhaps Greenland’s geographical location is a source of income.
“That’s what’s interesting. Greenland is attractively located on the world map,” says Ulrik Pram Gad, looking at Greenland’s search for investors to develop the world’s largest island.
“From 2009, they tried to get the Chinese to invest in mining and infrastructure. Nothing came of that.Then there was a long period when they had their eyes on the USA. Nothing really came of that either.”
“And now they’ve been all the way around. And then we are back to the good old friends in the EU, where we want them to step up their investments and subsidies. And now we have accepted that Denmark will also be allowed to contribute, even though it does not diversify the economic relations we have,” says Urik Pram Gad.
And the interest from the EU will probably not diminish.
“It is the hope of the EU and the Greenlandic government that the increased investments, especially in the mining industry, will result in self-sustaining economic growth at some point. But it is a very long-term project to identify and get mining operations running,” says Ulrik Pram Gad.
EU membership or not is also on the agenda for the autumn meeting of Greenland’s Parliament. It is Justus Hansen from Democrats who has proposed a debate on the advantages and disadvantages of EU membership. The topic will be on the agenda on October 10.
Source: KNR (in Danish)