ABSTRACT
The Nordic welfare model has a larger element of state participation, is more unifiedly organized, is to a larger degree tax-financed, and social security and welfare schemes cover on the whole larger parts of the population than other modern welfare states. The Nordic welfare model is under pressure for change because of its internal dynamics which are not revealed through such a listing of characteristics. Internationalization of economy and politics represents in itself a set of challenges for the Nordic welfare model. Membership in the EU will of course limit national economic and political sovereignty to some extent, but membership may on the other hand give the Nordic countries a better - if though limited - possibility to participate in the future shaping of Welfare Europe. The labour market has been relatively free in the EU for a long period of time without encouraging cross-national labour mobility to any great extent.
