ABSTRACT
The various changes, summed up by Bjom Otto Sverdrup as ‘Europeanisation’, are seen to lead to increasing informality, a lessening of Nordic cooperation in international organisations, and decreasing resources and interest. The apparent clarity of the term ‘Nordic cooperation’ easily misleads scholars to concentrate on the area literally characterised as being ‘Nordic’ and ‘cooperative’. The basic treaty on Nordic cooperation, the Helsinki Agreement of 1962, alludes to its variety of issues, actors and forms. The national level comprises cooperation between various Nordic state authorities taking place beyond the Nordic institutions. The formal Nordic level of cooperation comprises the two main institutions, the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, established respectively in 1952 and 1971. The idea of a Nordic parliamentary council was expressed as early as 1938. The establishment of the Nordic Council of Ministers implied a strengthening of governmental cooperation.
