The Nordic Council
The Nordic Council is an interparliamentary organization comprising the five Nordic countries and the Nordic Region’s three autonomous territories, the Aaland Islands, The Faroe Islands and Greenland.
The Council has 87 parliamentarians who work in order to make the Nordic region a good place to live and to enhance democracy, development and cooperation across the Nordic borders. The Nordic Council was established in 1952 and the conditions of the cooperation are set out in the Helsinki Agreement from 1962.
Organization
The Council meets twice a year at the theme session in April and at the ordinary session at the beginning of November. The presidency of the Council rotates every year between the five Nordic countries and the ordinary session is held in the country that has the presidency.
The ongoing political work of the Council takes place in four committees. Decisions made by the Council take the form of recommendations to the Nordic governments or the Nordic Council of Ministers, who attend to their implementation. The Council’s political parties have formed five Nordic party groups.
The Danish delegation
The Danish delegation is made up of 20 members: 16 from the Danish Parliament, two from the Faroe Islands and two from Greenland. The members are appointed at the beginning of each parliamentary year, and the delegation elects a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson.
The work of the Danish delegation consists of taking part in the work in the committees, put questions to the Nordic ministers and governments and prepare suggestions and recommendations to the Nordic governments. The Council’s work is discussed each year by the Danish Parliament as part of a debate based on a report on the Nordic Council’s work drafted by the Minister for Nordic Collaboration.