On Tuesday, February 3, Inatsisartut members will second consider a bill that aims to facilitate case processing in the area of raw materials.
Today, it is legally stipulated that the daily processing of cases in the mineral resources area must be handled by the Danish Mineral Resources Authority and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency for the Mineral Resources Area, respectively.
"The tasks that the boards undertake are stipulated by law, and there is a statutory right to appeal decisions made by the boards. Experience with the administration in the mineral resources area has shown that a more flexible approach is needed. Therefore, it is proposed to repeal the provisions that parts of the case processing must be carried out in two boards," states the Government of Greenland's submission note.
Possibility of reorganization
The Government of Greenland instead wants to have the opportunity to reorganize the area by moving tasks from the agencies to other units.
This does not mean that the agencies and the current division of tasks should be completely or partially abolished.
But that "Naalakkersuisut no longer has a statutory obligation to let tasks be determined by specific boards."
The submission note also states that the arm's length principle, understood in the sense that the authority's processing of the case area is carried out independently of the other case processing, will be maintained in relation to the processing of nature and environmental matters, even if tasks are moved from an agency to a department in the future.
Support from four parties
Siumut, Demokraatit, IA and Atassut write in their speaker's submissions that they are agree that there is a need to facilitate administration in the raw materials area.
According to Demokraatit, it is worth noting that the amendments preserve “important principles such as arm’s length, access to appeals and independent assessment of environmental issues.”
But the party also refers to the consultation responses received from Greenland Business and Transparency International Greenland.
Calls for clarity and more openness
Greenland Business has called for clarity on how case processing will be specifically organized in the future, which Demokraatit believes should be clarified in the committee's work.
Transparency International Greenland has pointed out the need to maintain the arm's length principle and ensure transparency if the Danish Environmental Agency for Mineral Resources is changed or reorganized in the long term. "That concern is relevant and should be taken seriously in the further processing," writes Demokraatit.
IA also supports the proposal and writes that they are confident that initiatives will now finally be taken to reduce the administration, which is not suitable for a community with 56,000 inhabitants. However, the party is calling for answers as to whether a new department should be established and whether, if so, it will increase the administration instead of easing it.
A source of contention and debate
Atassut is also positive about the bill, but points out that "even though the Greenland Government is continuously adjusting the legislation, we at Atassut must unfortunately express doubts as to whether we can realistically create economic gains through mining in the near future."
In other words, the party is skeptical of the dream that mining will become a major source of revenue for the country and a cornerstone of Greenland's economy.
"Unfortunately, today we have to admit that the law in this area changes almost every year, and thus the dream of a more profitable raw materials sector is becoming increasingly uncertain. The great optimism we experienced in the early 2000s has today been reduced to simply being a source of dispute and debate between different interest groups.
Naleraq rejects the bill
Naleraq is the only party to reject the bill, as they believe that it aims to shut down a mining industry in Greenland that has never really started. And they also believe that the bill will tie the Greenland Government even more closely to the EU, which the party fundamentally sees as the wrong direction.
Items 23 and 24 were first read in October 2025. The second reading will take place on October 3rd and the third reading the following week - on February 10th.
