According to the Financial Times, which cited EU officials briefed on the matter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will unveil the funding Sunday during a visit to Nuuk, Greenland's capital, and sign a declaration meant to strengthen economic relations between Brussels and the territory.
The money, covering 2026 and 2027, would flow into critical raw materials, renewable energy, subsea cables, satellite communications and data centers, with a portion set aside to help Greenland's government strengthen its own administrative capacity, a source told the newspaper.
It would supplement EUR 225 million the EU has already committed to Greenland under its 2021-2027 budget. Brussels expects that figure to roughly double in the following budget cycle, from 2028 to 2034, rising to as much as EUR 530 million.
The push comes as the EU tries to position itself as a reliable long-term partner for the Arctic territory. EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela said this week that Brussels wants "to strengthen the ability of local communities in the Arctic to decide for themselves and support those decisions with investment."
A Commission spokesperson, not named by the Financial Times, said Greenland holds growing strategic value for the EU "particularly in the changing geopolitical and environmental landscape of the Arctic". The spokesperson added that a new EU Arctic strategy, due later this year, would call for increased funding, tighter coordination between economic and defense investment, and stronger support for connectivity and economic diversification in Arctic communities.
Despite the outreach, Greenland has grown impatient with how slowly European and American investment has materialized, the Financial Times reported. High costs, difficult logistics and harsh operating conditions have discouraged large-scale foreign investment in the island's mining sector, though Denmark's Eifo investment fund remains among the more active players.
That investment gap matters politically: Greenland's independence movement is banking on stronger economic growth to wean the territory off Denmark's annual subsidy, which reached USD 670 million (EUR 576 million) last year, according to the Financial Times.
For now, though, EU attention this year has tilted toward security rather than economic development. France and the Netherlands have both sent troops and military equipment to Greenland for exercises, the newspaper said.
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Source: PAP