New Initiative to Boost Freedom of Movement in Nordic Region

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New Initiative to Boost Freedom of Movement in Nordic Region

A new initiative to boost freedom of movement in the Nordic Region will be a top priority for the Nordic Council of Ministers in the coming years. A new co-operation program emphasizes freedom of movement as a key issue, and a six-year program aimed at increasing mobility within the Nordic Region will commence at the start of 2025.

Sweden held the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2024. One of the top items on the agenda was prioritizing an integrated Nordic Region free of obstacles to freedom of movement.

This year, an analysis of efforts to remove obstacles to freedom of movement has been conducted, providing several recommendations on how these efforts can be streamlined.

New Initiative to Boost Freedom of Movement in Nordic Region
An analysis of efforts to remove obstacles to freedom of movement has been conducted.

Additionally, during Sweden’s presidency, the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation developed a new co-operation program for 2025 to 2030. The program will guide ongoing efforts towards Vision 2030, the goal of which is for the Nordic Region to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. The new co-operation program raises the level of ambition in the areas of mobility and removal of obstacles to freedom of movement.

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New Initiative to Boost Freedom of Movement in Nordic Region
The Nordic’s flags

“Clear political ownership”

“I’m particularly proud that under the Swedish presidency, we’ve stepped up efforts to remove obstacles to freedom of movement in the Nordic Region. With a new program for freedom of movement in place, the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation will have clearer political ownership over efforts to remove obstacles to freedom of movement. The program lays a solid foundation for continued efforts to strengthen integration, particularly in the digital sphere. Freedom movement is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving the vision of being the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030,” said Jessica Rosencrantz, Sweden’s Minister for European Union Affairs, responsible for Nordic affairs.

The co-operation program for 2025 to 2030 outlines that future mobility efforts will focus on major issues of critical importance to Nordic integration. It also stresses strengthening political anchoring and co-operation among all stakeholders working on freedom of movement. Additionally, information campaigns will be improved.

New Initiative to Boost Freedom of Movement in Nordic Region
The co-operation program for 2025 to 2030 outlines that future mobility efforts will focus on major issues of critical importance to Nordic integration.

Six-year program to improve efficiency

To ensure that obstacles to freedom of movement remain a political priority and solutions are found more efficiently, a six-year program for freedom of movement in the Nordic Region is being launched.

The program aims to establish a clearer framework, stronger political ownership, and more defined responsibility in efforts to remove obstacles to freedom of movement.

In the future, the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation will play a more central role in the work, such as by prioritising problem areas that are particularly important for intra-Nordic integration and to achieve the goals in efforts to deliver Vision 2030. The purpose is to ensure stronger national anchoring and support for the work. The dialogue between the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation and national ministries must also be strengthened in order to place obstacles to freedom of movement higher on the political agenda in all countries.

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Freedom of Movement Council still plays a central role

Co-ordination and work on mobility issues will also receive increased resources as a result of the six-year program. It will be led by a dedicated program secretariat tasked with enhancing synergies between efforts to acquire information and remove obstacles to freedom of movement, and to improve co-operation between the Nordic Council of Ministers’ information service, Info Norden, and the three cross-border regional information services.

The Nordic Freedom of Movement Council, which was established in 2014, will continue to play a central role in efforts to improve freedom of movement in the Nordic Region. The council will work to identify and pursue solutions to obstacles to freedom of movement between the Nordic countries, as well as continue to work on the major problem areas that need to be solved for the Nordic Region to become more integrated.

Examples of such areas that the Freedom of Movement Council has on its agenda are tax-related issues, identity matching and digitalization, and border region statistics.

The overarching goal in the Nordic Council of Ministers’ work with obstacles to freedom of movement is that it should be as simple as possible to move, commute, study, and run businesses across national borders in the Nordic Region without the risk of being affected by obstacles to freedom of movement or other mobility problems.

New Initiative to Boost Freedom of Movement in Nordic Region, a press release from Norden.org

Feature image (on top) The Ministers for Nordic Co-operation convened at the Session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik in October, led by Jessica Rosencrantz, Sweden’s Minister for European Union Affairs responsible for Nordic affairs. Photo © Eythor Arnason/norden.org

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