The chapter investigates the development of a European Union Arctic policy, specifically asking why the EU decided to develop an Arctic policy, how the process happened and what the main elements of this policy are. These questions are discussed at three basic levels of analysis: i) the internal level: viewing EU foreign policy initiatives as the output of a unique 'organization'; the state level: accounting for the role played by external actors, primarily states; and iii) the systemic level: viewing the EU and its foreign policy as dependent on structural conditions within the global system.