ТЕРИТОРИЈАЛНА АУТОНОМИЈА У ЕВРОПСКИМ ДЕМОКРАТИЈАМА: СЛУЧАЈ ФАРСКИХ ОСТРВА
TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY IN EUROPEAN DEMOCRACIES: THE CASE OF THE FAROE ISLANDS

Summary/Abstract: The Danish Realm, or the Kingdom of Denmark, consists of metropolitan Denmark in continental Europe and two autonomous territories: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Faroe Islands and Greenland are former Norwegian and Danish colonies, which gained autonomy after World War II and the autonomy was expanded over the following decades. The current Constitution of Denmark does not specifically regulate the status of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, but the position of the two overseas territories is determined by laws passed by the Danish Parliament. Moreover, as the status of the two overseas territories in the Danish constitutional system is not identically regulated, there are some differences. The current autonomy of the Faroe Islands is regulated by three legislative acts: 1) the Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands of 1948; 2) the Faroe Islands Foreign Policy Act of 2005; and 3) the Assumption Act of the Faroe Islands of 2005. The original autonomy of the Faroe Islands from the Act of 1948 largely fitted into the theoretical standards of territorial autonomy, but the legislative acts of 2005 expanded the autonomy to a large extent in order to exceed those standards. In practice, the Faroe Islands are an independent political community in relation to Denmark, since they have their own party system, established at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the Faroe Islands were on the verge of declaring independence on two occasions, in 1946 and 2001. However, support for the independence was variable among the population during the last few decades. In the current Faroese Parliament, two options are almost equal in terms of the number of deputies, and the leading political party in the Government advocates the preservation of union with Denmark. However, it seems that the Faroe Islands will take steps towards full state independence in the foreseeable future, and the dynamics of such steps will be greatly influenced by the issue of the status of Greenland, which has attracted international attention in recent months.

• Details
• Contents