21 May 2015

All Actions: Are Greenland and Denmark seen as two different entities in Horizon2020 or as same country?

Recital 1 of Council Decision 2014/137/EU on relations between the European Union on the one hand, and Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark on the other reads as follows: "In accordance with the Treaty amending, with regard to Greenland, the Treaties establishing the European Communities ( 2 ) (‘the Greenland Treaty’), the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) no longer applies to Greenland. Rather, Greenland, being a part of a Member State, is associated to the Union as one of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs)."

On the basis of the above, Greenland is one of the OCTs listed in Annex II of the TFEU. It is not an independent country as it is part of Denmark but it is not subject to the EU Treaties. It benefits from the association status with the EU.

In the Annex A of the H2020 WP it reads as follows:
  • The Member States of the European Union, including their overseas departments;
  • The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to the Member States *: Anguilla, Aruba, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, Greenland, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands, Saba, Saint Barthélémy, Saint Helena, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wallis and Futuna..
With regard to the application of the mobility rule a researcher having spent in Greenland more than 12 months in the previous three years is not eligible for a fellowship in Denmark as it is considered as the same country.