Greenland on the Self-Rule-Road

Now the Greenlandic road to a higher degree of independence from Denmark is opened. It happened when the Danish-Greenlandic Self-Rule Commission ended its work and tuesday handed the Commisions report to the Greenlandic Prime, Mr. Hans Enoksen and the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The two Primes congratulated each other. "It is a great day in the common history of the two countries" said  Anders Fogh Rasmussen while Hans Enoksen promised him a significant role in Greenlands history as the man who gave the Greenlandic People its rigth to be self-governing.

The new law of Self-Rule will now be sent to a referendum November the 25^th 2008. If the Greenlandic People votes yes it is planned that the new Self-ruled Greenland will be a reality from the Greenlandic National Day next year- juni 21^st 2009.

One of the big issues in the Self-Rule Commisions work is the right to the Greenlandic underground.The Commission has decided at the same time that the Home-Rule government will have the right to secure minerals from the Greenlandic underground, but future revenues will be deducted from the Danish block grant.

The Greenlandic-Danish Self-Rule Commission has agreed that the minerals in Greenland's underground belong to Greenland. According to their proposal for new Self-Rule legislation, the first DKK 75 million from oil exploration, for example, will go to the Home Rule government. The subsequent revenues would be divided while the DKK 3.2 billion block grant is reduced. When the block grant is compensated for, the rest of the revenues will go to Greenland, but the agreement is once again up for negotiating.

The Self-Rule Commission was established in June 2004 to identify areas which could be taken over for Self-Rule.