GREENLAND

Greenland is a huge place, with very few people. For centuries it was a colony of Denmark, who imported fish and other products, and returned the favour by exporting such European delicacies as smallpox. As with other arctic societies, it has big social problems, notably domestic violence and alcoholism.

However, it has also long wanted to be free of its rich colonial master. And Danes, being generally of a liberal bent, have long accepted this. In 1953, Greenland's status was raised from that of a colony to an autonomous province, and it was given representatives in the national Parliament, the Folketing. In 1979, that status was upgraded to a separate country, with a local Parliament and local control over such things as health and social services. A large Greenlandic majority had voted against joining the then EEC in 1973, but went in together with Denmark, the UK and Ireland. In the 1980's, a referendum allowed Greenland, despite being part of Denmark, to leave the E.U.; though a treaty allows it access to the single market.

Following the deliberations of a commission, a 2003 report outlined six options for the future of Greenland. One of these was submitted to a referendum in 2008 and passed with a 75% majority. The referendum was non-binding, but the Folketing had promised to uphold the result, which came into effect in the summer of 2009. Greenland now has increased home rule in 30 defined areas, including police and the courts, and Greenlandic is the sole official language; in return, the Danish economic subsidies, which had represented roughly a third of the island's GDP and two thirds of the local government budget, are to be phased out. Part of the impetus behind home rule was the increasing awareness of Greenland's mineral potential, and a desire to have greater control over its exploitation. Subsidies from Copenhagen will eventually be replaced by royalties from international oil, gas and mining companies.

All very sensible in theory, but the arrangements have run into their first major practical twist. Greenland has just passed a "large scale law", which defines the terms under which foreign companies can exploit large-scale mining projects. This allows the mass importation of foreign (read Chinese) workers, who can be employed for kr.80 an hour, the minimum wage for unskilled Greenlanders, and for as little as kr.62 an hour, after company-provided board and accomodation are offset (to put this in perspective, my 18-year old daughter currently earns around kr.110 an hour in her part-time job at the local bakery, and much more at the weekend).

Normally, laws passed by the Greenland home rule Parliament are then rubber-stamped by the Folketing. However, the twist is provided by the fact that one of the policy areas reserved to the mother country is immigration. The genuine concern is that 5,000 imported Chinese workers would have a very large impact on a local population of around 50,000. The hidden concern for some Danish politicians is that Greenland could become a Trojan horse for social dumping, and an influx of undesirable foreigners who would eventually make their way to Denmark.

At bottom, the issue is how far the ex-colonial power should dictate events post-independence, and how much leeway the colony should have in making its own decisions, even if those decisions are not particularly sensible (as viewed by outsiders). Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has so far taken an admirably adult line, saying that it is patronising to give Greenland home rule and then not accept its decisions. However, as things currently stand, she lacks a Parliamentary majority to rubber-stamp the large scale law. Yet another problem for a hard-pressed coalition Government.

Walter Blotscher