Nordic Council
|
|
|
| |
| Working languages | Danish Norwegian Swedish |
| Seat | Copenhagen |
| General Secretary | Frida Nokken |
| Area - Members - With Greenland | Ranked 19th 1,318,412 km² 3,493,000 km² (7th)¹ |
| Population - Total - Density | Ranked 45th 24,299,610 18.7/km² (6.9/km²)¹ |
| Foundation | 1952 (1971)² |
| Currencies | Danish krone Norwegian krone Icelandic króna Swedish krona Euro (Finland) |
| Time zone | UTC 0 to +2 (-3)¹ |
| ¹ Including Greenland ² Nordic Council of Ministers | |
The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers is a cooperation forum for the governments of the Nordic countries. It was established following World War II and its first concrete results was the introduction in 1952 of a common labour market, social security, and free movement across borders without passports for the countries' citizens.
Members of the Council include:
- Autonomous territories
- Faroe Islands (Denmark)
- Greenland (Denmark)
- Åland (Finland)
The Nordic Council has offices in Copenhagen and various installations in each separate country. The council does not have any formal power on its own, but each government has to implement any decisions through its country's legislative assembly (parliament). With Denmark, Norway, and Iceland being members of NATO, Sweden being neutral, and Finland having had cooperation treaties with then Soviet Union, the Nordic Council has not been involved in any military cooperation.
The Nordic Council uses Swedish, Danish and Norwegian as its working languages.
The original Nordic Council concentrates on inter-parliamentary co-operation. The Nordic Council of Ministers, founded in 1971, is responsible for inter-governmental co-operation.
In the 1960s there were plans to develop the Nordic cooperation into an organisation similar to the European Economic Community. A treaty was negotiated to establish a new organisation, NordEk headquartered in Malmö. Though ultimately it was the case that Finland did not dare to ratify the treaty due to its special relationship to the Soviet Union. Without Finland the idea was defunct, and Norway and Denmark chose to apply for membership in the EEC. Denmark became a member of the EEC in 1973, but Norway rejected accession in the same year, in a referendum. Sweden did not apply due to its non alliance policy, which was aimed at preserving neutrality.
Sweden and Finland joined the European Union in 1995.
See also: Scandinavian defense union
External links
- Nordic Council (http://www.norden.org/) - Official Site
- Nordic FAQ (http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/)
| Nordic Council | 
|
|---|---|
| Denmark | Finland | Iceland | Norway | Sweden | |
| Associate members | |
| Åland | Faroe Islands | Greenland | |
da:Nordisk råd de:Nordischer Rat fr:Conseil nordique is:Norðurlandaráð no:Nordisk Råd pl:Rada Nordycka fi:Pohjoismaiden neuvosto sv:Nordiska rådet zh:北歐理事會