Introduction

The Ministers for Nordic Co-operation (MR-SAM) have overarching responsibility for co-ordinating the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The MR-SAM also establish the political priorities for a series of programmes and activities which are financed through the framework of the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation. The vision of a Nordic Region which is the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030, as well as the three strategic priorities for a green, competitive and socially sustainable Nordic Region, are what give direction to all work undertaken by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

As a part of the overarching responsibility of the MR-SAM, the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation adopt decisions on the following, among other things:

As a part of their overarching responsibility, the MR-SAM also makes secretarial support available to the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Secretariat and the Nordic institutions are important tools for realising the objectives of the vision. The Secretariat provides expertise and input relevant to the work at hand, namely by drafting and implementing adopted policy in the Councils of Ministers and the Committees of Senior Officials. These institutions constitute an important tool for the implementation of adopted initiatives.

The Secretariat and the institutions are to take responsibility for ensuring correct and suitable administration of public Nordic funds, as well as an objective and results-based approach that generates measurable outcomes.

The communication activities of the Secretariat and the institutions are central in order to spread information about the outcomes of the progress made through Nordic co-operation to attain the vision, both internally within the Nordic Region and externally to the wider world.

The co-operation programme for the MR-SAM describes the part of the Ministers’ area of responsibility which concerns political priorities and objectives for the 2025–2030 period, divided into three overarching goals. In accordance with these goals, the Ministers for Co-operation have a special mission and responsibility to ensure the co-ordinated implementation and communication of the vision, to work for greater intra-Nordic integration, and to safeguard the Nordic perspective both regionally and internationally.

Work within these three overarching areas is undertaken via a series of different programmes and activities, such as initiatives to provide information about Nordic co-operation to citizens and businesses in the Nordic Region, for example, to offer support to civil-society actors or through collaboration with actors in areas adjacent to the Nordic Region.

The Ministers for Cooperation are also tasked with ensuring that the cross-boundary perspectives of sustainable development, equality and children and young people are also observed, and that these permeate the work undertaken within the Nordic Council of Ministers.

In the process of drafting goals, milestones, programme formulations and activities, the Nordic Council has been given the opportunity to provide input and proposals for priorities at both the objective and milestone level, as well as the programme level and activity level, up to the political decision to adopt the co-operation programme.

Civil society and other relevant actors such as the business community and the parties that make up the labour market have, where relevant, been consulted and involved at various levels, with a special focus on the concrete design of activities within the programmes financed by the MR-SAM.

The co-operation programme is the governing document for all programme activities under the MR-SAM. The co-operation programme was approved by the MR-SAM in September 2024 and applies through until 31 December 2030.

The co-operation programme takes its starting point from the Nordic Council of Ministers’ mission to contribute towards the realisation of the vision of a Nordic Region which is the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030.

All activities in the Nordic Council of Ministers will contribute to fulfilling our vision that the Nordic Region will be the world's most sustainable and integrated region in 2030. The co-operation programme describes how the sector will work with the three strategic priority areas.