Areas of Cooperation

Several Partnership Working Parties have been set up in order to define and discuss the mutual challenges foreseen in the future. There are 5 partnership working parties dealing with:

1) environment, natural disasters and climate change,

2) regional integration,

3) rules of origin and trade,

4) financial services and

5) future relationship between EU and the OCTs.

Greenland is involved in all discussions but has been particularly involved in environment working group due to the obvious consequences in the arctic of climate change. The work with environmental issues will continue and enhance as it is a specific objective to create a trilateral strategy between the Member States, the Commission and the OCTs in this field.

In the near future the Commission will take up the work of developing a green book on the future relations between the EU and the OCTs and OCTA and the different OCTs will take great part in this work. This green book process will also include discussion on trade issues, together with rules of origin and regional integration, in the light of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACPs) which are supposed to be finalized by December 31, 2007.