The European Union's potential contribution to enhanced governance of Arctic shipping

Abstract

This paper establishes what competences the EU has and how the EU can best use these competences to help generate an effective legal system for the governance of Arctic shipping. The first part briefly describes the current international legal regime that is applicable to the prevention of vessel-source pollution in the Arctic. The progress and debating points of adopting a mandatory Polar Code in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are discussed. The second part assesses the EU’s institutions, competence and role as flag, coastal and port state in the Arctic. Moreover, it analyses how the EU could make use of its internal and external influence to make concrete contributions to enhanced governance of Arctic shipping.