Information activities

The Nordic Council of Ministers' information service, Info Norden, and the three regional information services - Grensetjänsten Norge-Sverige, Gränstjänsten Sverige-Finland-Norge, and Øresunddirekt - play a crucial role in promoting freedom of movement within the Nordic Region. These services are essential to achieving the Nordic vision of becoming the world's most sustainable and integrated region by 2030.

As the strategic frontline of Freedom of Movement Council, these services are in direct contact with residents and businesses in the Nordic countries. They form an essential part of the Nordic Council of Ministers' efforts to promote mobility and overcome cross-border obstacles.

Their work provides daily reassurance for individuals and companies wishing to move between the Nordic countries, offering assistance in finding cross-border adapted information about regulations and the appropriate government agency contacts.

Info Norden is the information service of the Nordic Council of Ministers and falls under the responsibility of the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation.

The three cross-regional information services operate and are funded differently, involving contributions from various authorities and regional stakeholders, and in some instances, municipal entities also contribute. A commonality among them is their partial financing by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

These information services maintain both individual and shared networks, comprising experts from authorities, embassies, labour market entities, border committees, and interest organisations, among others.

The information services share three missions: Information, integration, and cross-border obstacle work. In addition to these, Info Norden has a broader mission, and the three cross-regional information services have additional commitments to the other bodies that fund them.

The information services guide residents and businesses in the Nordic Region by providing and helping them find cross-border adapted information about legislation and regulations. They also facilitate contacts with authorities when needed. An example is a cross-border commuter whose life cycle typically begins with seeking a job in another country and ends with retirement in the country of residence. In between, several life events often require specific knowledge to navigate between the regulations and practices of two or sometimes several countries.

Communication is made through websites, contact forms, and personal guidance. The information services' websites are available in several Nordic languages.

The information services organise and participate, to various degrees, in mobility and cross-border obstacle conferences with authorities, politicians, and other relevant actors to highlight the opportunities and challenges of being a cross-border commuter, commuting between Nordic capitals, moving to another Nordic country, and so on. They are also part of the Freedom of Movement Council's effort to put mobility issues on the political agenda.

The information services also participate in and organise job and recruitment fairs and other events to increase awareness of the opportunities the common labour market offers for workers, businesses and students in the Nordic Region.

Additionally, they organise special information meetings for individuals, businesses, and politicians to varying degrees. Some of these are tailored, such as special tax declaration days for cross-border commuters, and others are more general in nature.

In their daily contacts with individuals and businesses, the information services register potential cross-border obstacles, and analyse how they can be resolved locally, regionally or nationally. The identified cross-border obstacles are then reported to the Secretariat of the Freedom of Movement Council, and after a quality review in co-operation with national ministries, they are entered in the Freedom of Movement Database.

The information services, alongside department officials, participate in the national meetings of the Freedom of Movement Council members. In this way, the experience of the information services and their link to the Nordic residents are utilised.

The Freedom of Movement Council and representatives from the information services meet annually in connection with the Nordic Council's session.

The cross-border obstacle work and information efforts have been made more efficient through the collaboration within a shared network between the Secretariat of the Freedom of Movement Council and the information services. In addition to an annual joint meeting between the secretariat and the information services, co-operation continues based on common needs and focus areas.

The collaboration among the information services enables knowledge exchange and streamlines the information and border obstacle work at large.

The Secretariat of the Freedom of Movement Council is included in the steering groups of the cross-regional information services and has regular coordination meetings with Info Norden. This ensures regular information exchange and gives the Nordic Council of Ministers insight into the daily operations, as well as the opportunity to contribute the Nordic perspective, and participate in strategic decisions.

Just as the Freedom of Movement Council plays a special role during times of crisis, so do the information services. During the coronavirus crisis, the information services were particularly crucial in compiling information about corona-related disruptions that arose as a result of entry restrictions and national decisions. A total of 21 reports were compiled and sent to the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation, the Nordic Council, and several other actors.

The efforts of the information services were particularly crucial in people's everyday lives by assisting, among other things, in the interpretation of entry restrictions and national decisions.

The information services also contributed to focusing on the problems on the political agenda by highlighting these issues in various contexts; in newsletters, at conferences, in panel debates, in newspapers, and in TV and radio interviews.

Through their social media channels, they also provided information about mobility and cross-border obstacles, not least in relation to the entry restrictions that were current at the time.

Info Norden, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023, is the Nordic Council of Ministers' information service and falls under the responsibility of the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation. It is coordinated by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Communications Department.

Info Norden has a presence in all eight Nordic capitals and targets individuals seeking information about moving, working, studying, or starting a business in the Nordic Region. It also provides information about Nordic support schemes and Nordic co-operation.

Info Norden's websites are available in the main Nordic languages as well as in English. Info Norden aims for residents to primarily find answers to their questions on its website.

Personal contact with residents mainly occurs through a web form. Inquiries to Info Norden are answered with references to information on the websites of authorities and contact details of the relevant authorities. Info Norden works to ensure that inquiries from citizens and businesses primarily concern more complex questions and potential new cross-border obstacles. Info Norden is continuously in contact with authorities, departments, embassies, and other actors to facilitate mobility within the Nordic Region as part of the official Nordic co-operation.

Web: www.norden.org/sv/info-norden
Facebook: www.facebook.com/infonorden
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/info-norden/
X (formerly known as Twitter): @infnorden

Grensetjänsten Norge-Sverige is a cross-regional information service aimed at individuals and companies seeking information about moving, working, studying, or establishing businesses in Norway and Sweden.

It is located at the Morokulien Infocenter, right on the border between Sweden and Norway.

The website of the Norway-Sweden Border Service is aimed at both individuals and companies. The website features regionally adapted information in two languages; in Norwegian about Swedish conditions for those based in Norway, and in Swedish about Norwegian conditions for those based in Sweden.

Residents and businesses can get answers to their questions through the website as well as through personal guidance at the information center.

Potential cross-border obstacles and mobility issues received by the Norway-Sweden Border Service are investigated and addressed in simplification groups available for both individuals and businesses. Cross-border obstacles are also reported to the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Web: www.grensetjansten.com/sv/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/grensetjansten 
Instagram: www.instagram.com/grensetjansten/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grensetjansten/

Gränstjänsten Sverige-Finland-Norge is a cross-border regional information service aimed at individuals and companies seeking information about moving, working, studying, or establishing businesses in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

The information service has two offices, one in Tornio/Haparanda focusing on questions between Finland and Sweden, and one in Skibotn, Storfjord, Norway, which deals with Norway-Finland questions, as well as Sweden-Norway questions.

The website of Gränstjänsten Sverige-Finland-Norge caters to both individuals and businesses. It provides regionally adapted information in three languages; in Finnish about Swedish or Norwegian conditions for those coming from Finland, in Norwegian and in Swedish about Finnish conditions for those coming from Norway or Sweden, respectively.

Residents and companies can get answers to their questions through the website as well as through personal guidance at the information offices.

Web: www.granstjanst.se
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RajaneuvontaGranstjanst
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rajaneuvonta_granstjanst/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/nordkalottens /
X (formerly known as Twitter): @GranstjanstNord

Øresunddirekt is a cross-border regional information service aimed at individuals and companies seeking information about moving, working, studying, or establishing businesses in Denmark and Sweden.

It consists of an information center in Malmö - Øresunddirekt Sweden - and a web editorial office in Copenhagen - Øresunddirekt Denmark. Øresunddirekt Sweden and Øresunddirekt Denmark share a brand, but are organisationally separate and have partially different funding bodies.

Øresunddirekt has two websites, one targeting individuals and the other targeting businesses. The websites provide regionally adapted information in two languages; in Swedish about Danish conditions for those coming from Sweden, and in Danish about Swedish conditions for those coming from Denmark. The website for individuals is also available in English.

Residents and companies can get answers to their questions through the website as well as through personal guidance at the information centre. 

Web: www.oresunddirekt.com / www.oresunddirektbusiness.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oresunddirekt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/Øresunddirekt/
X (formerly known as Twitter): @oresunddirekt

In 2019, the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation instructed the three cross-border regional information services to develop a joint digital reporting system for cross-border obstacles that arise in the Nordic border regions.

In November 2021, the website "Your Border Problem" was launched, where people can report experienced mobility obstacles in the Nordic Region through a digital reporting system. The reporter can be the general public, companies, authorities, organisations, and so on.

The reporting system is an accessible system that streamlines the joint work on cross-border obstacles and the co-operation between the cross-border regional information services, generates quantitative data, and improves the quality of reports to the Freedom of Movement Database.