Speech by Commissioner Jozefa Síkela at the Opening of the EU Arctic Forum in Brussels

Thank you, Commissioner Kadis.

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

We meet after a summer that showed us again how exposed Europe is to climate change.

Fires tore through our continent. They cost lives, and destroyed the homes of many Europeans. Drought caused damage running into tens of billions of euros.

Europe is the fastest warming continent on earth and one important part of the reason lies to our north.

The Arctic is heating up even faster and its ice is disappearing rapidly. As it gives way to darker ocean, its heat is absorbed. This accelerates warming across the region and contributes to the warming experienced in Europe.

That is a reminder of how closely the Arctic and Europe are bound together.

Not only by geography and people. But by the challenges we share, in security, in trade, and in the overlapping interests of the world's major powers.

So the question is not whether we handle this better together. The question is how.

I have been asked, together with the HRVP, to prepare the update of the European Union's Arctic Policy, with Jyrki Katainen advising me on that work. It rests on three principles.

First, the Arctic's future belongs to the people of the Arctic.

Not to whoever wants to buy it.

That is the foundation of everything we do. We come to strengthen the ability of Arctic communities to decide for themselves, and to back those decisions with investment.

It is why I travelled to Nuuk this May, and why I am going back later this week. Not to announce European priorities, but to listen - and  together with the President - to turn Arctic priorities into concrete European action.

The message from political leaders, Indigenous representatives, local communities, young people and businesses is consistent.

They want partners who invest in communities, not only in infrastructure, and who understand life in the Arctic.

Second, security and prosperity go together.

The EU has invested in Arctic education, fisheries and sustainable tourism for decades. €372 million into Arctic research through Horizon, €273 million through Interreg.

We are not newcomers here. But today's environment demands more.

It demands investment in infrastructure, in jobs, and in partnerships that make us more resilient.

That work has already started.

Take connectivity. Together with Greenland, we are investing in a new undersea fibre optic cable running almost 1,000 kilometres from the south coast to the west. Better internet. Better public services.

Take energy. The EU funded Aurora power line connects the Finnish and Swedish electricity grids in the high north, so clean power can move where it is needed.

Europe also needs materials it does not have. Graphite for batteries. Molybdenum for defence. Today we buy most of them from a single supplier, and we have learned how vulnerable that makes us.

The Arctic holds those materials. But their development has to be sustainable, and it has to create value in the Arctic itself.

For Europe, that means supply we can rely on. For Arctic local communities, it means jobs, revenue and skills that stay at home.

Third, our greatest strength is partnership.

No one can do this alone. Not one country, not one institution.

As partners, we can keep the Arctic a region of peace and opportunity rather than competition.

Which brings me back to you. The Arctic's greatest resource is its people.

Over the next days, we want to hear from you. Your ideas, your concerns, your recommendations. You are the experts, and we need what you know to make it work.

Because the Arctic's future is Europe's future.

Let us make it strong, sustainable and prosperous. Together.

Thank you.