EU protection guarantee for Greenland raises questions
In the media image: Visit Greenland on Unsplash
The European Commission believes the EU protection clause (Art. 42.7 TEU) applies if the US were to annex Greenland. Experts, including Professor of European Law, agree in the ‘Noord-Hollands Dagblad’ and say the issue concerns an overseas territory.
According to the European Commission, the European treaty article that obliges Member States to help each other in the event of an attack may also apply to Greenland, but a definite answer is still lacking. The vagueness of the clause creates uncertainty about effective protection.
Armin Cuyvers, Professor of European Law, believes that such a technical objection will probably fall away when it really comes down to it and ‘higher politics are at stake’. He mainly envisages an issue with the ‘rather vague’ wording of Article 42.7. In the NATO equivalent it is clear that member states are expected to come to each other’s military aid, but that has not yet been defined in the EU article. ‘That was never necessary.’ Cuyvers sees it as ‘an opportunity for the EU countries to give substance to the provision.’
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Read the full article in the Noordholland Dagblad (in Dutch)