The Faroese government is urging the EU to return to the negotiating table to resolve the dispute about the herring stock, with the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs now stepping in as mediator.
The Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Villy Søvndal, says he has high hopes that the two parties will return to the negotiating table before the proposed economic measures against the Faroe Islands enter force.
The Faroe Islands argues that it has been allocated an unreasonably small part of the total allowable catch, which resulted in the country setting an autonomous quota. This caused outrage from the other coastal nations, leading to the EU announcing possible economic measures against the Faroe Islands.
An EU boycott against the Faroe Islands would not just cause problems for the Faroe Islands, but also Denmark, of which the Faroe Islands is part. In order to avoid endangering thousands of Danish jobs (because the vast majority of Faroese exports go through Danish harbours) the Danish government says it will do all it can to prevent the EU from taking an action as serious as putting in place economic measures against the Faroe Islands.
The Faroese government has previously made clear that it is prepared to bring the matter to the International Court of Justice if the EU goes ahead with its threat of economic measures against the Faroe Islands due to the quota dispute.
