Nordic Council of Ministers

The Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental forum established after the Helsinki Treaty.^[1] The purpose of the Nordic Council of Ministers is to complement the Nordic Council and promote Nordic cooperation.

Nordic Council of Ministers Nordisk Ministerråd (Danish) Nordisk ministerråd (Norwegian) Nordiska ministerrådet (Swedish) Pohjoismaiden ministerineuvosto (Finnish) Norræna ráðherranefndin (Icelandic) Norðurlendska ráðharraráðið (Faroese) Nunani Avannarlerni Naalakkersuisut Siunnersuisoqatigiivi (Greenlandic) Davviriikkaid ministarráđđi (Northern Sami)
Flag
Member states shown in dark blue; and regions of member states shown in light blue.
Headquarter	Copenhagen
Official languages	Danish Finnish Icelandic Norwegian Swedish
Type	Intergovernmental organisation
Membership	Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden
Leaders
• Secretary-General	Karen Ellemann
• Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers	Norway
Establishment
• Inauguration of the Nordic Council	12 February 1953
• Helsinki Treaty	1 July 1962
• Inauguration of the Nordic Council of Ministers	July 1971
Population
• 2018 estimate	27,210,000
Currency	Danish krone Euro Icelandic króna Norwegian krone Swedish krona
Website norden.org

Structure

The governments of the Nordic countries each have a Minister for Nordic Cooperation.^[2][3] This responsibility often goes to the Minister of Foreign Affairs or another ministerial post that the Nordic country has a special desire for cooperation. These Ministers for Nordic Cooperation delegate meetings for other Ministers to discuss avenues for cooperation in the minister's respective fields, thus the Ministers for Cooperation set up Ministerial Councils. Hence the name, Council of Ministers.

Short Code:	Nordic Council of ministers for:
MR-SAM	Cooperation
MR-A	Labour
MR-VÆKST	Sustainable Growth
MR-FJLS	Fisheries, Aquaculture, Agriculture, Food and Forestry
MR-JÄM	Gender Equality
MR-K	Culture
MR-LAG	Legislative Affairs
MR-MK	Environment and Climate
MR-S	Health and Social Affairs
MR-U	Education and Research
MR-FINANS	Finance
MR-DIGITAL	Digitalisation 2017-2020

Cooperation with other International Organizations

The Council and the Council of Ministers are involved in various forms of cooperation with neighbouring areas, amongst them being the Baltic Assembly and the Benelux, as well as Russia and Schleswig-Holstein.^[4] The Council of Ministers has offices in the following countries:

Estonia	Tallinn (Head office)[5] Tartu (Branch office)[5] Narva (Branch office)[5]
Latvia	Riga[6]
Lithuania	Vilnius[7]

Closed offices^[8]

Russia

St. Petersburg (Office) Kaliningrad (Office) Petrozavodsk (Contact center) Arkhangelsk (Contact center) Murmansk (Information center)

Programmes

Nordic Council of Ministers's educational programme for lifelong learning is "Nordplus". The main objective of the programme is to strengthen and develop Nordic educational cooperation.^[9]

See also

• Valhalla (youth portal)

References

1. "The Helsinki Treaty | Nordic cooperation" (PDF). www.norden.org. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
2. "Ministers for Co-operation (MR-SAM) | Nordic cooperation". www.norden.org. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
3. Opitz, Christian; Etzold, Tobias (January 2018). "Seeking Renewed Relevance -Institutions of Nordic Cooperation in the Reform Process" (PDF). German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
4. "Initiatives by the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation | Nordic cooperation". www.norden.org. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
5. "Contact". norden.ee. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
6. "Homepage". Ziemeļu Ministru padomes birojs Latvijā. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
7. "About us". Šiaurės ministrų tarybos biuras Lietuvoje. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
8. "Nordic countries close offices in Russia". Barentsobserver. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
9. "Nordplus". Nordplus. Retrieved 7 April 2021.