European Commission Directorate General for Inte : Greenland

Located between the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, Greenland is the world's largest island. It is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and is the only Danish territory associated to the EU. Greenland has a population of 56,700 inhabitants, 88% of which are of Inuit origin. Nuuk is the capital city.

Between 1973 and 1985, Greenland was part of the EU. Following a referendum held in 1982, it withdrew from the EU and is now associated to the EU under the Overseas Association Decision.
The public sector - enterprises and municipalities - plays a major role in Greenland's economy as does the fisheries sector.

Greenland is eligible for funding from the EU's general budget through the EU-Greenland Partnership. For the period 2014-2020, an overall amount of €217.8 million is foreseen for the cooperation with Greenland. The Programming Document defining the cooperation priorities for this period was signed on 28th October 2014. The education, vocational training and post-elementary school system have been chosen as the concentration sector for the cooperation between Union and Greenland for the period 2014-2020.

In addition, the President of the Commission (on behalf of the EU), the Prime Minister of Denmark and the Greenland Premier signed on 19th March 2015 'an umbrella' framework document for the post-2013 EU-Greenland relations, a 'Joint Declaration on relations between the European Union, on the one hand, and the Government of Greenland and the Government of Denmark, on the other '. By this legally and financially non-binding document, the EU confirms its long lasting links between with Greenland and reiterates the geostrategic importance of Greenland for the EU.