The Peculiarities of Formation of EU Arctic Policy in the Context of a Competition for Arctic

The theme of the thesis "The peculiarities of formation of EU Arctic policy in the context of a competition for Arctic" was chosen due to the fact that the Arctic is rapidly acquiring more and more geoeconomic and geostrategic importance and attracts international actors, including the European Union, which uses its Arctic policy as a key tool to influence and achieve its goals. The main goal of this work is to determine the reason that leads to the absence of a spillover-effect in the European Union in the Arctic direction, which in turn affects the lack of integration and unity of the EU's Arctic policy. To achieve the above goal, the theory of neofunctionalism (in particular the key concept of the spillover-effect) was used, as well as the method Process Tracing. The first section of this work analyzes the historical background (both external and internal) that prompted the European Union to work in the Arctic region, then discusses the Arctic policy at the present stage using the theory of neofunctionalism. In the second section, the features of the practical existence of the Arctic policy of the European Union are analyzed, and the factors (present and necessary) in the Arctic policy of the EU are determined on the basis of the method Process Tracing. The third section includes a description of advantages and disadvantages of the modern EU Arctic policy, and also presents the three scenarios that we have invented for the development of the European Union's Arctic policy in the medium term: “negative” (unlikely), “positive” (probable) and “neutral” (the most probable). This paper also provides our recommendations that can help to strengthen the role and weight of the European Union in the Arctic.