Nordic treaties

Nordic cooperation is regulated by numerous agreements in different sectors despite the fact that the cooperation originally started without any formal agreements between the participating states. The cooperation in its entirety was codified for the first time by the so-called Helsinki Treaty in 1962. This agreement has been revised several times in particular because of the establishment of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the EU membership of Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

Many issues that still remain unresolved in the European Union have been agreed upon in the Nordic region. In their time, the labour market agreement (1954), the passport union agreement (1954) and the social security convention (1955) were trailblazing achievements. They have been followed by Nordic agreements on around twenty different areas ranging from culture and environment to Sámi issues.

More information on the treaties.