What Can the European Union Do to Stop the Grind?

Article by Alice Di Concetto, Chief Legal Adviser, The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy.

From an animal law perspective, the situation in the Faroe Islands, where the significant and cruel slaughter of cetaceans has been taking place, seems challenging to address. It may appear that the EU has limited options to prevent the continuation of such practices when we consider the political status of the Faroe Islands. 

The Faroe Islands are a self-governing, autonomous territory of Denmark, and while Denmark is a Member State of the EU, the Faroe Islands are not. Furthermore, the Faroe Islands are not a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes countries that, while not part of the EU, have access to the EU free trade area. This unique political status limits the EU’s ability to exert influence over the archipelago.

Similarly to their relationship with the EU, the Faroe Islands are not a member of the Council of Europe, despite Denmark being a member. This is noteworthy because the Council of Europe is an international organization distinct from the European Union, and the Council of Europe has passed several international conventions, including those on environmental and biodiversity conservation. One such convention is the 1979 Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, which prohibits the capturing, killing, and disturbing of wild animals during certain periods.

Over the years, the government of the Faroe Islands has ensured that none of the international conventions protecting long-finned pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins would apply in Faroese territorial waters. It has achieved this by systematically carving out exemptions in international conservation law to allow the Grind to continue. These exemptions have effectively shielded perpetrators of the Grind from external legal pressures, further complicating efforts to halt the slaughter of these cetaceans.

Here are the conventions which the Faroe Islands have successfully circumvented:

• The Bern Convention (The Council of Europe's Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, 1979) does not apply to the Faroe Islands because the Faroe Islands are not a member of the Council of Europe and so are not a party to the Bern Convention.

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, 1973). The Faroe Islands are not a party to the CITES.

• The Bonn Convention (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, 1979): Denmark made reservations to the Bonn Convention for the Faroe Islands regarding most marine mammal species.

• The Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS, 1991): As a result, the ASCOBANS (which takes the Bonn Convention as a legal basis) does not apply to the Faroe Islands either, as concerns the hunting of marine mammals.

Despite their avoidance of such widely agreed upon conventions, the Faroe Islands remain fully integrated, economically and politically, to European international organizations, starting with the EU. The Faroe Islands receive significant amount of support from the EU, under:

• An Agreement on Fisheries (since 1980)

• A Free Trade Agreement (since 1997)

• An Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation (since 2021)

However, the substantial support the Faroe Islands receive from the EU represents a potential leverage point that the EU could use to halt the Grind. It is time for the EU to make the cessation of the Grind a condition for the Faroe Islands if the archipelago wishes to continue receiving EU support.

According to the European Commission, the EU is the Faroe Islands’ biggest trading partner, accounting for 39% of the country’s total trade in goods with the world in 2022. In that year, 56% of the Faroe Islands’ imports came from the EU, and 25% of the islands’ exports went to the EU. Total trade in goods between the EU and the Faroe Islands in 2022 amounted to €1.9 billion. Given this significant economic relationship, the EU could revise its Free Trade Agreement with the Faroe Islands to include a requirement that the Faroe Islands prohibit the Grind if the Faroese government wishes to continue trading with the EU.

The EU could also revise the Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation, signed with the Faroe Islands in 2021, to include a requirement that the Faroe Islands prohibit the Grind if the Faroese government wishes to continue receiving research funding from the EU. Under this agreement, the Faroe Islands receive Horizon 2020 funds that support projects in fields such as sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime research, the bioeconomy, climate action, environment, food security, resource efficiency, and raw materials. According to the European Commission, the Faroe Islands have received €4.79 million under the Horizon 2020 program.

The EU prides itself on being a leading authority in animal protection. With a new Parliament and European Commission in place, the EU has a unique opportunity to align its development policies more closely with its commitments to animal and environmental protection. This is an ideal moment for the EU to address these issues with its European partners, ensuring that trade and cooperation agreements reflect the EU’s stated high standards for animal welfare and conservation.

Photo by Daina Le Lardic © European Union 2024 - Source : EP