EU Seeks Rare Earth Elements in Greenland
The island is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but is not part of the EU: the head of state is the Danish sovereign, but since 2008 the local government has had jurisdiction in the legislative and judicial spheres
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opened the European Commission office in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
The island, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, between Canada and Iceland, is rich in valuable minerals. Europe needs them. In particular, there are deposits of 25 of the 34 metals that the EU considers strategic. Most of the island’s more than 2 million square kilometers are covered with ice. But global warming is making its presence felt here as well. On the one hand, this means facilitating economic activity, on the other, the Green Transition and the search for raw materials for new “climate” technologies is becoming an increasingly urgent need.
The population of Greenland is only 56,000, with 18,000 living in the capital Nuuk; sovereignty is Danish, but the local government has wide autonomy. It is so large that the island is not part of the European Union, rather a “special territory” with economic relations and cooperation, but the rules of the Union are not binding.
In January 2024, the EU signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Greenland, opening a strategic partnership aimed at developing sustainable raw material value chains. This will lead to the development of “sustainable projects in commodity value chains and the infrastructure needed to develop them.” Now the next step was to open an office for the Commission. In addition to Ursula von der Leyen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen attended the ceremony.
According to Dire, Greenland is home to one of the world’s major uranium deposits and minerals such as lithium, neodymium, niobium, fluorite, tantalum, hafnium, and zirconium.