The Nordic Council

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The Nordic Council “The political co-operation is built on common values and a willingness to achieve results that contribute to a dynamic development” The Nordic cooperation Nordic Council, formed in 1952. The official interparliamentary body. Nordic Council of Ministers, formed in 1971. The intergovernmental co-operation. Five countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. Three autonomous territories: Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland. 25 million people Why the Nordic Council? The Nordic Council was established in 1952, in the aftermath of World War II. The politicians at the time strived for stronger international co-operation generally, the UN, the Council of Europe were established. The Helsinki Treaty, on which the official Nordic co-operation is based, mentions a number of political fields in which the Nordic states shall co- operate. The Nordic Council gives impulses, visions, directions, where we see that the Nordic countries can tackle issues more successfully together. Some important results Nordic Convention on Social Security Passport Union The Helsinki Treaty, ”the Nordic constitution” that regulates official cooperation between the countries. Joint Nordic labour market Agreement on access to higher education Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) 11 national parliaments (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden) 11 regional parliaments (Faeroe Islands, Bremen, Hamburg, Greenland, Kaliningrad, Karelia, Leningrad, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, St. Petersburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Åland) 5 parliamentary organisations (Baltic Assembly, European Parliament, Nordic Council, Council of Europe, OSCE) Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Regin (CPAR) 8 Arctic states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, USA) European Parliament Permanent Participants (indigenous peples of the Arctic region) Barents Parliamentary Conference Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden European Parliament, Nordic Council .

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The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy
bailes_hb.qxd 21/3/06 2:14 pm Page 1 Alyson J. K. Bailes (United Kingdom) is A special feature of Europe’s Nordic region the Director of SIPRI. She has served in the is that only one of its states has joined both British Diplomatic Service, most recently as the European Union and NATO. Nordic British Ambassador to Finland. She spent countries also share a certain distrust of several periods on detachment outside the B Recent and forthcoming SIPRI books from Oxford University Press A approaches to security that rely too much service, including two academic sabbaticals, A N on force or that may disrupt the logic and I a two-year period with the British Ministry of D SIPRI Yearbook 2005: L liberties of civil society. Impacting on this Defence, and assignments to the European E Armaments, Disarmament and International Security S environment, the EU’s decision in 1999 to S Union and the Western European Union. U THE NORDIC develop its own military capacities for crisis , She has published extensively in international N Budgeting for the Military Sector in Africa: H management—taken together with other journals on politico-military affairs, European D The Processes and Mechanisms of Control E integration and Central European affairs as E ongoing shifts in Western security agendas Edited by Wuyi Omitoogun and Eboe Hutchful R L and in USA–Europe relations—has created well as on Chinese foreign policy. Her most O I COUNTRIES AND U complex challenges for Nordic policy recent SIPRI publication is The European Europe and Iran: Perspectives on Non-proliferation L S Security Strategy: An Evolutionary History, Edited by Shannon N.
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Arctic Policy &
Arctic Policy & Law References to Selected Documents Edited by Wolfgang E. Burhenne Prepared by Jennifer Kelleher and Aaron Laur Published by the International Council of Environmental Law – toward sustainable development – (ICEL) for the Arctic Task Force of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN-CEL) Arctic Policy & Law References to Selected Documents Edited by Wolfgang E. Burhenne Prepared by Jennifer Kelleher and Aaron Laur Published by The International Council of Environmental Law – toward sustainable development – (ICEL) for the Arctic Task Force of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of ICEL or the Arctic Task Force of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of ICEL or the Arctic Task Force. The preparation of Arctic Policy & Law: References to Selected Documents was a project of ICEL with the support of the Elizabeth Haub Foundations (Germany, USA, Canada). Published by: International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL), Bonn, Germany Copyright: © 2011 International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non- commercial purposes is authorized without prior permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) (2011).
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European Autonomy and Diversity Papers
European Diversity and Autonomy Papers EDAP 03/2014 Making Autonomies Matter: Sub-State Actor Accommodation in the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers An Analysis of the Institutional Framework for Accommodating the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland within ‘Norden’ Sarah Stephan Managing editors: Emma Lantschner / Francesco Palermo / Gabriel N. Toggenburg Editorial Board (In alphabetical order): Bieber, Florian (Universität Graz, A) Burgess, Micheal (University of Kent, UK) Castellino, Joshua (Middlesex University, UK) Craufurd Smith, Rachel (University of Edinburgh, UK) Dani, Marco (Università di Trento, I) De Witte, Bruno (European University Institute, I) Gamper, Anna (Universität Innsbruck, A) Henrard, Kristin (Erasmus University of Rotterdam, NL) Hoffmeister Frank (Free University of Brussels, BE) Keating, Michael (University of Aberdeen, UK) Kujovich, Gil (Vermont Law School, US) Kymlicka, Will (Queens University, CAN) Marko, Joseph (Universität Graz, A) Medda-Windischer, Roberta (EURAC, I) Nic Shuibhne, Niamh (University of Edinburgh, UK) Oeter, Stefan (Universität Hamburg, D) Packer, John (United Nations Department of Political Affairs, University of Essex, UK) Pallaver, Günther (Universität Innsbruck, A) Poggeschi, Giovanni (Università di Lecce, I) Ruiz, Eduard (Universidad de Deusto, ES) Sasse, Gwendolyn (Oxford University, UK) Tarr, G. Alan (Rutgers University, US) Teachout, Peter (Vermont Law School, US) Toniatti, Roberto (Università di Trento, I) Triandafyllidou, Anna (European University Institute, I) Williams,
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The Nordic Council – Our Council the Nordic Council – Our Council © Nordic Council, 2012 ISBN 978-92-893-2372-7 DOI ANP 2012:737
The Nordic Council – our council The Nordic Council – our council © Nordic Council, 2012 ISBN 978-92-893-2372-7 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/ANP2012-737 ANP 2012:737 Editors: Silje Bergum Kinsten and Heidi Orava Design: Jette Koefoed Photos: Karin Beate Nøsterud; Ingram; Image Select; Ojo; Søren Sigfusson; Ludwig Ehlers/Landesarchiv Berlin; Photos from “50 år Nordisk Råd 1952–2002” Copies: 1500 Print: Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk, Albertslund Printed in Denmark Nordic co-operation Nordic co-operation is one of the world’s most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involving Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. Nordic co-operation has firm traditions in politics, the economy, and culture. It plays an important role in European and international collabora- tion, and aims at creating a strong Nordic community in a strong Europe. Nordic co-operation seeks to safeguard Nordic and regional interests and principles in the global community. Common Nordic values help the region solidify its position as one of the world’s most innovative and competitive. Nordic Council Ved Stranden 18 DK-1061 Copenhagen K Telefon (+45) 3396 0200 www.norden.org The Nordic Council – our council Council Nordic The This brochure will provide you with a deeper insight into what the Nordic Council is all about. You will discover that the work of the Council exerts an influence on your life. Perhaps you would like to help exert influence on the Council. 4 The Nordic Council – our council Introduction 7 Out of the ashes 8 The first steps 10 Timeline 10 What issues does the Nordic Council address? 14 Closer to the people 17 Facts about the Nordic Council 22 It is also important that the people of the Region continue to consider the Council relevant to their lives.
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The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence
Introduction The European defence challenge for the Nordic region Alyson J. K. Bailes I. The role of this introduction The European Defence and Security Policy (ESDP), launched by the European Union (EU) in its historic decisions at Helsinki in December 1999,1 remains the subject of widely varying judgements, views and aspirations throughout Europe and, indeed, among many of Europe’s partners. Its initial ambition was modest: to provide an alternative means of carrying out a specific range of military crisis management tasks under the EU’s own command. Nonetheless, it has evoked fears, ranging from the risk that it could undermine the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to that of an inevitable slide towards an integrated ‘European army’. Conversely, and although the EU member states have tried to goad each other into better defence performance with the help of ESDP targets, the continued shrinkage of most EU defence budgets exposes the seemingly unbridgeable gap between European ambition and performance. The question of the ESDP’s finalité—where the policy is actually supposed to be leading, ranging along interlinked spectrums from occasional military cooperation to complete guaranteed defence and from pure intergovernmentalism to collective European control of military assets—produces the most widely varying answers, and feelings, of all.2 The ESDP is thus a challenge for all European states; but the story of how the five Nordic countries, singly and collectively, have participated in and adapted to it since its birth (and gestation period) is the particular subject of the chapters in parts I–IV of this volume. This introduction aims both to provide the starting point for appreciating the subsequent material and to anticipate an issue to which some of the closing contributions return.
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Finnish Security and European Security Policy
FINNISH SECURITY AND EUROPEAN SECURITY POLICY Stephen J. Blank September 27, 1996 ******* The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. This report is cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Institute for National Security Studies of the U.S. Air Force Academy which supported the research and interviews cited here. ******* Comments pertaining to this report are invited and should be forwarded to: Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013-5244. Copies of this report may be obtained from the Publications and Production Office by calling commercial (717) 245-4133, DSN 242-4133, FAX (717) 245-3820, or via the Internet at rummelr@carlisle- emh2.army.mil. ******* All 1995 and later Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) monographs are available on the Strategic Studies Institute Homepage for electronic dissemination. SSI's Homepage address is: http://carlisle-www.army. mil/usassi/ ii FOREWORD In 1995 Finland joined the European Union (EU). This action culminated several years of a fundamental reorientation of Finnish security policy as Finland moved from the neutrality imposed on it by the Soviet Union to a policy with a priority on European integration through the European Union. Finland, in joining the EU, has retained its independent defense and security posture, even as it seeks to strengthen its standing abroad and gain added leverage, through the EU, for dealing with Russia.
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The Case of the Nordic Councils
The Case of the Nordic Councils MAPPING MULTILATERALISM IN TRANSITION NO. 1 TOBIAS ETZOLD DECEMBER 2013 The global architecture of multilat - Nordic multilateral cooperation represents one of the oldest and most eral diplomacy is in transition and a traditional forms of regional cooperation in Europe. It comprises the five comprehensive understanding of Nordic countries (often referred to as “Norden”)—Denmark, Finland, the new dynamics, players, and Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as their autonomous regions, the Faroe capacities is needed. The Mapping Islands (Denmark), Greenland (Denmark), and the Åland Islands (Finland). Nordic cooperation has deep roots in history, but started to become more Multilateralism in Transition series institutionalized and formalized only after the end of the Second World War. features short briefing papers on Nordic cooperation builds primarily on consultation and coordination established but evolving regional without affecting the countries’ sovereignty. 1 Four factors were decisive for the organizations and select cross- emerging Nordic multilateral structures after World War II: first, the regional organizations. The papers countries share common historical and cultural traditions, and their closely aim to: (1) identify the key role and related languages enable transnational contacts on all societal levels; second, features of the organizations; (2) the division of labor within their joint institutions bears several advantages; third, the unequal power dynamics of several Nordic countries bordering assess their current dynamics; and major European military, economic, and cultural powers led to the solidifica - (3) analyze their significance for the tion of a Nordic identity and a strengthening of Nordic cooperation; and overall regional and global geopolit - finally, mutual support for a Nordic commitment to act independently in ical context.
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Nordic Political and Economic Cooperation: Context, History and Outlook
ASEAN ENERGY MARKET INTEGRATION (AEMI) Energy Security and Connectivity: The Nordic and European Union Approaches ____________________________________________________________________ FORUM PAPER Nordic Political and Economic Cooperation: Context, History and Outlook February 2016 Johan Strang Centre for Nordic Studies, University of Helsinki [email protected] Executive Summary The Nordic countries have been brought together by the simple geopolitical fact that they are small countries with mighty neighbours. Cooperation has been necessary in order to compete with larger countries and to increase their influence in international arenas. At the same time, all grand schemes for political unification of the region have failed. Instead, the Nordic countries have succeeded in developing a piecemeal approach to regional integration, focusing on people-to-people interaction and mobility, cultural cooperation and research networks. This peculiar form of “cob-web integration” has fostered a regional identity (nordism) that forms an integral part of the five national identities. As a result, despite being divided in terms of NATO and EU membership, the Nordic countries form a family of nations united in a fundamental trust in one another. This has, in turn made innovative and ambitious transnational experiments such as Nord Pool possible. However, stressing the importance of informal people-to-people cooperation, it also needs to be emphasised that Nordic cooperation benefits considerably from the fact that it takes place within the larger treaty-based European framework of the EU and the European Economic Area. Arguably, it is this mix of top-down integration and bottom-up cooperation that has made the Nordic region one of the most unified regions in the world.
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The Nordic Council and the EU
Together or apart? The Nordic Council and the EU Karina Jutila l Terhi Tikkala (eds.) report 1 • 2009 Petri Artturi Asikainen/Gorilla Contents Introduction ......................... 3 Earlier reforms in the Nordic Council .......... 9 Reforms between 1989 and 2008 .............10 1990s...........................10 Winds.of.change.....................12 Current.developments..................13 The effect of the reforms ..................14 Is.small.beautiful?....................14 Far-reaching.enough?...................14 Are.further.reforms.necessary?..............15 Previous.reform.measures.efficient?...........16 Reforms vis-à-vis Europe and the EU............17 Summary and conclusions .................19 How is the Nordic Council doing? ........... 22 Background and values unite member countries .... 23 Lack of political clout a weakness ............ 24 A more active approach to EU issues ........... 25 More efficiency and results ............... 27 The NC in the future: a talking shop or an invigorated actor at the EU level? ......... 29 Annex: Questionnaire form .................31 Contents 1 The Nordic Council and the EU ............. 33 An institution on the wane or on the up? ......... 33 Unprejudiced.evaluation.of.the.future.needed.....35 The EU needs regional parliaments ........... 36 Similar.but.different.parliaments............36 .The.challenges.of.regionalisation.in.the.EU.......38 A parliamentary EU? ................... 40 NC needs to be reformed and made more European .. 43 What.sort.of.EU.agenda.does.the.NC.need?.......45
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A Stronger North? Nordic Cooperation in Foreign and Security Policy in a New Security Environment
Tuomas Iso-Markku, Eeva Innola, Teija Tiilikainen A Stronger North? Nordic cooperation in foreign and security policy in a new security environment May 2018 Publication series of the Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities 37/2018 DESCRIPTION Publisher and release date Prime Minister´s Office, 8.5.2018 Authors Tuomas Iso-Markku, Eeva Innola, Teija Tiilikainen Title of publication A stronger North? Nordic cooperation in foreign and security policy in a new security environment Name of series and number Publications of the Government´s analysis, assessment and research of publication activities 37/2018 Keywords Nordic cooperation, foreign policy, security policy, defence policy, defence cooperation, NORDEFCO Other parts of publication/ - other produced versions Release date May, 2018 Pages 58 Language English Abstract Nordic cooperation on foreign and security policy has gained renewed attention in recent years. Changes in the Nordic states’ immediate security environment after the Ukraine crisis, as well as growing global uncertainty, have turned foreign, security and defence policy into a focal point of the Nordic agenda. Nordic foreign and security policy cooperation is characterized by informality, as it takes place outside of the institutional Nordic structures. This report assesses the current state of this cooperation by opening up structures and formats within which the informal cooperation takes place. The report then discusses future prospects for, as well as constraints on, deepening the cooperation from different angles, including agenda formation, institutional complexities, Nordic cooperation in multilateral contexts and bilateral Nordic relations. Defence cooperation forms a separate sub-field of Nordic cooperation, as it has its own unique structures and practices.
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Downloaded from Brill.Com10/01/2021 03:59:29PM Via Free Access 94 • SIRPA SOINI
The Nordic Committee on Bioethics By Sirpa Soini, University ofHelsinki l 1 Introduction The Nordic Committee on Bioethics (subsequently referred to as the Bioethics Committee)2, as we know it today, was established in 1996. Its roots, however, are in the Nordic Collaboration Programme for Biotechnology 1988-92 when an inde- pendent Nordic Committee for Ethics related to Biotechnology (Nordisk utvalgfor etikk innen bioteknologi) was created. The birth of such a committee was a characteristic of the time at the beginning of 1990S. Both the national and world communities were confronted with rapid- ly emerging new biotechnological inventions and applications, e.g. gene patenting, cloning, a variety of novel in vitro fertilisation techniques and applications, geneti- cally-modified organisms, and the human genome project, just to name a few. These developments raised fears in the public and the research community as regards how to ensure the appropriate use of novel techniques and assess their potential threat to humanity. In order to respond to new needs to monitor and discuss bioethical issues, the Council of Europe set up an ad hoc Committee of experts on Bioethics (CAHBI) in 1985, which later became the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI) in 1992. UNESCO, for its part, established the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) in 1993. Both the CDBI and the IBC are also highly influential today and contribute towards policy-making. Sweden and Denmark were among the first countries in Europe to found national ethical councils; Sweden founded the National Coun- cil on Medical Ethics (SMER - Statens Medicinsk-Etiska Rad) in 1985 and Denmark founded the Danish Council of Ethics (Det etiske rad) in 1987, just few years after France had established its National Consultative Ethics Committee ( CCNE - Comite ConsultatifNational d'Ethique) in 1983.
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Cfp Workshop 14.10.2021 Religious Freedom Helsinki.Pdf
Call for papers (Deadline June 30, 2021) Advocating religious freedom in the Helsinki process New research perspectives on the non-state actors in view of the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki treaty (1975–2025) Online Workshop, Thu 14 October 2021, p.m. The Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) born of the Helsinki Agreements (1973-75) is often described as one of the main diplomatic achievements of the détente era, and a crucial milestone towards ending the Cold War. Yet not only diplomats played a part in the process. Non-state actors and NGOs also did their share by lobbying CSCE staff and conference attendees for human rights and Religious freedom violations behind the Iron Curtain. Drawing on the most recent research on this topic (Badalassi and Snyder, The CSCE and the End of the Cold War: Diplomacy, Societies and Human Rights, 2019), this online workshop aims at further exploring human rights activists involved in the Helsinki process, at the interface between the Dissent and the Western public, and between state and other private networks. The focus of this workshop is on the religion, on religious networks and actors who advocate religious freedom and human rights in the CSCE process. We are looking for new research contributions that deal with the following topics in the context of the Helsinki Process: —Presentation of new primary sources and archives —Religious networks in support of the CSCE, Helsinki monitoring groups —Religious actors and their perspectives (first-hand testimonies and retrospect assessments) —Religious freedom and anti-communism Politically and geographically, we are particularly interested in contributions focussing on the neutral States of Europe (e.g.
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