Nordic Council of Ministers

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The Arctic - West Nordic Region and its Neighbours

Co-operation with the West Nordic Region and with the Nordic Region's neighbours to the west is an area of high priority in Nordic co-operation. The Nordic Houses on the Faroe Islands and Iceland, as well as the Nordic Institute in Greenland, are central players in cultural co-operation in the West Nordic Region.

The Nordic Council of Ministers' activities in the West Nordic Region

The Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) places a high priority on the West Nordic Region in Nordic co-operation. This prioritisation is based on the fundamental assessment that it is an advantage for all of the Nordic countries to strengthen co-operation with the West Nordic region.

The themes for this co-operation are natural resources (especially marine resources), research, education, health, commercial factors such as transport, tourism, communication and the labour market, consumer protection, culture and network co-operation throughout the whole area. In addition this includes efforts towards Nordic co-operation with the Nordic countries' neighbours in the west.

The publications (in Danish) 'The West Nordic Region in Nordic Co-operation' (2003), 'Nordic Co-operation and the West Nordic Region and its Neighbours' (2004) and the supplementary overview 'The West Nordic Region in Nordic Co-operation - status report' (2005) provide a more detailed account of this co-operation.

The project account 'The West Nordic Region's economic relations to the rest of the Nordic Region and its importance for commercial development in the West Nordic Region' is worth mentioning as an example of co-operation. Furthermore, the Nordic Houses on the Faroe Islands and in Iceland, as well as the Nordic Institute in Greenland, are worth mentioning as central players in cultural co-operation in the West Nordic region, partly through a well established co-operation with these three institutions, and partly through the network development of the three institutions in and around the West Nordic region.

The Houses have a co-ordinating role in the cultural sphere which can also be extended to other areas.

During the Danish Presidency in 2005 the initiative was taken for a workshop on European Marine Strategy, which had as one of its goals the opportunity of involving the West Nordic region in discussions on the subject.

The Nordic Council and the West Nordic Region

During the last decade the Nordic Council has given particularly high priority to the West Nordic Region. This should be seen in the context of the focus that the development of the Baltic Sea co-operation, and the Nordic Council's role as a bridge builder in relation to Russia in general and Northwest Russia in particular, has brought about in relation to the 'East Nordic' area.

The Nordic Council considers it important to hold the Nordic region together and, therefore, the Nordic Council was a strong supporter of the Nordic Cultural Fund's decision that when a West Nordic country or area is involved in a project, one other partner is sufficient to warrant funding by the Nordic Cultural Fund. Normally it is a requirement that three Nordic countries are involved in a project before the Nordic Cultural Fund will fund it.

Furthermore, the Nordic Council considers a strong and functional co-operation with the West Nordic region to be of benefit for the entire Nordic co-operation.

The Nordic Council co-operates with the West Nordic Council in regard to central West Nordic issues. The President of the West Nordic Council is a speaker at the Nordic Council's Session and usually takes an active part in the debate on questions concerning the West Nordic region.

The West Nordic Council

Contact

Lene Frees

Phone: +45 33 96 03 26

Email: lf@norden.org