How much is the fish? When foreign policy meets fishing interests in the EU’s Arctic endeavour

Abstract

This article explores the interaction between European Union (EU) foreign policy and the external dimension of fisheries policy in a specific case: a dispute over snow crab fisheries around the Norwegian Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard. We do two things: first, we examine a specific case that concerns both EU foreign policy and fisheries policy in order to understand the workings of the EU regarding these two policy domains. Second, we connect the dots between the EU’s external fisheries policy and the EU as a foreign policy actor in general, examining how intra-institutional dynamics matter when studying policy and its related developments in Brussels. This analysis of the snow-crab dispute between the EU and Norway illustrates how a relatively minor issue in fisheries policies is also relevant to the study of the foreign policy of the EU, and more generally for the links between foreign policy and fisheries as a nexus that is increasingly relevant in international politics.