EU gets cold shoulder in the Arctic

Arctic Council ministers have agreed on a new set of criteria for determining whether an external country or institution is eligible for 'permanent observer' status in the increasingly-important forum, but a decision on the European Commission's long-standing application could still be years away.

Finland lobbied hard for the EU application at a ministerial meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday (12 May), but Canada and Russia have traditionally been opposed to the move.

And i...