Mr. Svein Ludvigsen, Norwegian Minister of Nordic Co-operation and Chairman of the Nordic Council of Ministers

Co-operation Between Neighbours – The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers

European Forum Wachau, 28 to 30 June 2002

Dear Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nordic co-operation is a uniquely close partnership between five sovereign states and the three autonomous areas of the Faeroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers are the main organisational building blocks of this consensus-based partnership. The Nordic Council – being the Nordic parliamentarian organisation – was founded in 1952, and this year celebrates 50 years. The Nordic Council of Ministers – being the Nordic governmental organisation – was founded in 1971.

The Nordic Council consists of 87 members, all parliamentarians appointed from the national parliaments of the Nordic countries and autonomous areas. It is, however, interesting to note that members of government - also including Prime ministers and foreign ministers - participate in the sessions and debates of the Council. This makes for a highly useful political forum for exchange of views between parliamentarians and government representatives across national boundaries.

The Nordic Council meets in plenary session once a year. In addition, special theme conferences are organised on an annual basis. The last one, held in Reykjavik in April, discussed the democracy of the future in the Nordic countries.

The Nordic Council debates topical issues, passes recommendations to the Nordic Council of Ministers and to the governments of the Nordic countries. Five committees and four political groups carry on business between the sessions. These are organised according to party affiliation, not nationality. The Nordic Council has a small secretariat in Copenhagen, located together with and working in close co-operation with the secretariat of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The two secretariats actually share a number of services.

The relationship between the Council and the Council of Ministers in some ways resemble that of a national parliament and government. But the Nordic Council does not pass laws, cannot instruct the Council of Ministers or apply a vote of no confidence. The instrument of recommendations are, however, used extensively.

Nordic co-operation enjoys a very strong grass-roots support in the Nordic countries. There truly is something that one can call a "Nordic identity", a strong common bond, based not only on geographical proximity and history, but also on shared values, religious and cultural affinity as well as the similarity of languages. This has resulted in a valuable blend of shared values and shared interests that make up the glue of Nordic co-operation. Since the last inter-Nordic wars close to two hundred years ago, our relationship has matured through Great Power rivalries, two world wars, the political and economic crisis of the 1930’s, the cold war, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the current European integration process. We are now also witnessing the establishment of a Europe of regions, which no doubt serves to strengthen Nordic regional co-operation.

Important cornerstones of Nordic co-operation were laid in the 1950’s, soon after the founding of the Council. A common labour market was introduced in 1954, equal treatment on social security in 1955, and the Nordic passport union in 1957. Through the following decades, co-operation has gradually expanded to cover most areas of public activity, resulting in a vast range of joint Nordic standards and regulations that facilitate all sorts of cross-border activities and the daily life of the Nordic citizens. This includes the labour market, social services and the Nordic passport union.

The introduction of international security and foreign policy issues in the 1990’s on the agenda of the Council and the Council of Ministers was a result of an ambition to strengthen relations with other regional bodies, especially the EU and in the Baltic, Barents and Arctic regions. This was a consequence of the end of the cold war and the increasing European integration parallel to the development of a Europe of regions. The Nordic ambition is to make Nordic co-operation and the values and interests it represents, better known outside the Nordic region. And thus the establishment of Nordic information offices in the three Baltic countries in 1991 - just prior to their independence - and in St.Petersburg some years later. We are now in a dialogue with Russia to open another office in Kaliningrad. Since the beginning of the 1990’s, democratic development and sustainable economic development in Russia and the Baltic States have been among the principal objectives of Nordic co-operation.

Baltic Sea regional parliamentary co-operation has emerged, and since 1991 parliamentarians from the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as parliamentarians from Russia, Poland and Germany, have had strong links. Permanent inter-parliamentary co-operation with yearly conferences on Baltic Sea co-operation now takes place. In the Council of Ministers a strong dialogue has been established with the Council of Baltic Sea States, the Barents Council and the Arctic Council. The relationship with the Baltic countries has been especially close, even to the extent that the Baltic organisations to a large extent have been established based on the Nordic model of parliamentarian and governmental co-operation. We are, however, now in the process of realigning our focus from the Baltic countries to Northwest Russia, bearing in mind the forthcoming Baltic EU membership and the still difficult situation in Northwest Russia.

The Nordic Council of Ministers meets in 19 different configurations, covering practically all sectors of public life. The ministers of foreign affairs, defence, development assistance and foreign trade do not meet within the framework of the Nordic Council of Ministers, but often meet to exchange views and co-operate more informally. The Prime ministers of the Nordic countries have the ultimate responsibility for Nordic co-operation, and in each Nordic government one of the ministers has the portfolio of Nordic co-operation as his or her second portfolio. I am here today in my capacity as Norway’s minister of Nordic co-operation, and also as this year’s chairman of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The chairmanship has over the past few years been given a much stronger role in the Council of Ministers, and Norway has decided to focus on children and youth, food safety and sustainable development during our chairmanship this year.

The approximately 50 expert committees working within the Nordic Council of Ministers, are the nuts and bolts of the Nordic co-operation machinery. These committees and the various Councils of Ministers are served by the 100 people’ strong secretariat of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Copenhagen. The total annual budget for joint Nordic activities is about 100 million USD, and culture, research and education get almost half of the Nordic budget with reference to the value base of Nordic co-operation.

An important executing part of Nordic co-operation is the 33 Nordic institutions. They can be divided into three categories: Cultural co-operation, financial institutions - e.g. the Nordic Investment Bank - and highly specialised research institutions.

The Nordic Council and the Council of Ministers also works for greater Nordic co-ordination in European affairs. Nordic countries have been successful in promoting many of our Nordic values and priorities. This can be seen in the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties, and has been clearly demonstrated during the Finnish and Swedish presidencies of EU. Denmark will no doubt do a similarly splendid job in the EU chair during the second half of this year. The Nordic Council and Council of Ministers fully support the EUs Northern Dimension, and seek to work in line with this Dimension.

Nowadays the Prime Ministers from the three Nordic EU member countries - Denmark, Finland and Sweden – have a separate meeting before EU Summits in order to exchange views and discuss priorities and problems.

When Finland and Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, it was widely feared that Nordic co-operation would suffer. Today, it is clear that this scenario has not materialised. Nordic co-operation is very much alive and kicking, not withstanding the different memberships of our countries in other international fora.

We must always work hard to ensure the support of our Nordic citizens. We must deliver the goods in the form of everyday life improvements in order to maintain the legitimacy of Nordic co-operation and the disposition of our citizens to consider themselves citizens of Norden. To this effect, we are now revitalising our efforts to remove remaining obstructions to Nordic cross-border activities. We are in a sense returning to our roots and the everyday concerns of our citizens. The Nordic countries have also just completed a review of our overall political priorities, and concluded that our future focus will be on technology, quality of life, the Nordic market, sustainable development and regional and further international co-operation. One of the main challenges of the future will no doubt also be to adjust to the fact that the Nordic countries are now truly multi-cultural societies.

In conclusion, I would like to stress the need for regional co-operation to always be flexible, politically alert, able to identify new tasks and - last, but not least - never forget whom we serve. There is still much to be done!