Nordic Council of Ministers' flag among other Nordic flags.For the people living in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as well as the three autonomous territories of Greenland, the Faeroe Islands and Aland, Nordic cooperation is so natural that they don’t see anything peculiar in it. Common Nordic history and culture and the similarity of languages contribute greatly to this sense of community. The numbers reflect this cohesion – a 2006 opinion poll showed that 76 percent of the citizens believe that the work of the Nordic Council (NC) and the Council of Ministers (NCM) has value for the people of the region.

The Nordic governments are convinced that the whole of society should be involved in ensuring the sustainable development of the region – the balance between different needs and interests is a key to long-term success. In other words: economic growth and competitiveness, which are important factors in financing the Nordic welfare model, should be in balance with their impacts on environment and social policy.

Perpetual changing

Although Nordic cooperation has become so natural, it changes continuously. When the NCM was established in 1971 its main task was to remove all kinds of border obstacles.
A little bit more than 50 years later the Nordic governments have defined globalisation as its greatest challenge. On the one hand it is a challenge; on the other hand it embraces magnificent opportunities. Globalisation also increases freedom of movement and creates multicultural societies which demand the solution of new political and social difficulties.
The Nordic countries may be relatively small, but working together facilitates the promotion of the Region’s interests in a globalised economy. The countries achieve more by working together.
Therefore, in the globalised world the Nordic governments wish to cooperate even more intensively in the following fields:

• Climate, environment and energy
• Research, education, training and innovation
• Freedom of movement
• Enhanced visibility

To be actively involved in and develop these fields the Nordic prime ministers gather at a summit every year. This is where the new guidelines for the future are born. Since most of the Nordic countries are also members of the European Union (EU), NCM guidelines are in accordance with Europe’s.

Cooperation benefits

Nordic cooperation:

• makes it more attractive to live, work and do business in the north of Europe
• makes up for the relatively small size of the individual countries
• supports Nordic values and affords them international impact
• preserves the Nordic languages, history and traditions in a globalised world
• brings together the Nordic countries and other like-minded nations in international forums.

The overall responsibility of achieving effective and unanimous results lies officially with the Nordic prime ministers. In practice, responsibility is delegated to the Ministers for Nordic Cooperation and to the Nordic Committee for Cooperation, which coordinates the day-to-day work of the official political Nordic cooperation.

Like in the EU, the NCM has a presidency, which rotates every year. Similarly to the EU, the President of the NCM draws up an action plan according to its priorities and also takes into considerations the interests of other Nordic countries. Those prime ministers, whose countries are members of the EU, meet unofficially before EU summits and keep Norway and Iceland informed about the discussions. The Nordic prime ministers also discuss matters of common interest with their Baltic colleagues before EU summits.

Ten in one

Despite its name the Nordic Council of Ministers consists, in fact, of ten individual councils of ministers, each covering a specific policy area:

• The labour market and working environment
• Business, industry, energy and regional policy
• Fisheries, agriculture, forestry and food
• Cultural cooperation
• Gender equality
• Legislative issues
• Environmental protection
• Social and health affairs
• Education, training and research
• Economic and fiscal policy.

Most of the ministers meet about four times a year. Ministers of foreign affairs and defence meet regularly outside the auspices of the NCM.

40 Danish krones per capita

The NCM has an annual budget of approximately DKK 900 million. With approximately 25 million citizens in the region, that works out at around DKK 44.00 per capita, per annum.

From this budget the NCM finances wholly or partly the activities of several institutions, funds and grant programmes (ex. NordForsk, Nordic Gene Bank, Nordic Innovations Center, Nordregio, Nordic Cultural Fund, etc.). 20 percent of the budget is spent on cooperation with neighbours from the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. In the future it is not impossible that borders between the Nordic and Baltic countries will disappear as a result of this cooperation.

The Nordic logo

Nordic cooperation is symbolised by a swan with eight quills in a blue circle. The eight quills represent the five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – and the three autonomous territories – the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.
The symbol was designed by Finnish artist Kyösti Varis.
The green so-called nature swan is an official sign of environmentally friendly products. More than a thousand products are labelled with the green swan, which guarantees that buyers get an environmentally friendly product.
"Norden" is the international common designation for the cooperation in the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council.