Nordic programme for co-operation on legislative affairs 2015-2018

Nordic co-operation, which involves Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, was formalised with the establishment of the Nordic Council in 1952.

The Helsinki Treaty, signed a decade later in 1962, is the formal legal document that regulates Nordic co-operation. In 1971, the Nordic Council of Ministers was established in order to facilitate co-operation between the governments of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. The Helsinki Treaty was most recently amended in 1995.

Co-operation on legislative affairs is a tool used in the work to promote the common principles shared by the Nordic legal systems, which are based on shared Nordic values. The co-operation is also a tool used in the work on European law and for facilitating the implementation of EU/EEA acts and other international obligations.