Editing Nordic Council (section)

== Organisation ==
=== Council ===
The Nordic Council consists of 87 representatives, elected from its members' parliaments and reflecting the relative representation of the political parties in those parliaments. It holds its main session in the autumn, while a so-called "theme session" is arranged in the spring. Each of the national delegations has its own secretariat in the national parliament. The autonomous territories{{spaced ndash}}Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland{{spaced ndash}}also have Nordic secretariats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council/the-nordic-council/about-the-nordic-council|title=About the Nordic Council|access-date=8 November 2010|archive-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024051850/http://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council/the-nordic-council/about-the-nordic-council/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Council does not have any formal power on its own, but each government has to implement any decisions through its national legislature. With all countries being members of NATO, the Nordic Council has not been involved in any military cooperation.

===Council of Ministers===
{{Main|Nordic Council of Ministers}}
The original Nordic Council concentrates on inter-parliamentary cooperation. The ''Nordic Council of Ministers'', founded in 1971, is responsible for intergovernmental cooperation. Prime Ministers have ultimate responsibility but this is usually delegated to the Minister for Nordic Cooperation and the Nordic Committee for Co-operation, which coordinates the day-to-day work. The autonomous territories have the same representation as states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council-of-ministers/the-nordic-council-of-ministers|title=The Nordic Council of Ministers|access-date=8 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930222646/http://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council-of-ministers/the-nordic-council-of-ministers|archive-date=30 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Nordic Council of Ministers has offices in the Baltic countries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nordic Council of Ministers' Baltic offices {{!}} Nordic cooperation|url=https://www.norden.org/en/organisation/nordic-council-ministers-baltic-offices|website=www.norden.org|access-date=15 May 2020|archive-date=21 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821183642/https://www.norden.org/en/organisation/nordic-council-ministers-baltic-offices|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Secretary General ===
*[[Secretary-General of the Nordic Council]]

=== Languages ===
The Nordic Council uses the three Continental [[Scandinavian languages]] (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) as its official working languages, while interpretation and translation service is arranged for Finnish and Icelandic (but never between the Scandinavian languages).<ref name="languages" /> The council also publishes material in English for information purposes. The Council refers to Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish collectively as Scandinavian and considers them to be different forms of the same language forming a common language community.<ref name="Norden">{{cite web |url=http://www.norden.org/ |title=Norden |date=11 September 2009 |access-date=4 March 2002 |archive-date=12 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012173529/http://www.norden.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Since 1987, under the [[Nordic Language Convention]], citizens of the Nordic countries have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable to any interpretation or translation costs. The Convention covers visits to hospitals, job centres, the police, and social security offices. The languages included are Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish.<ref>[http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=6795&lang=6] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428022430/http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=6795&lang=6|date=28 April 2009}}</ref>

On 31 October 2018, the council established it has five official languages, giving Finnish and Icelandic equal status with Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish from 1 January 2020 onward. While the working languages of the council's secretariat remain the three Scandinavian languages, the Council emphasised that the secretariat must include personnel with comprehensive understanding of Finnish and Icelandic as well. The then-President of the Council [[Michael Tetzschner]] thought the compromise good but also expressed concern over the change's expenses and hoped they would not increase so much that there would be pressure to switch over to using English.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.norden.org/sv/news/starkt-position-finskan-och-islandskan-i-nordiska-radet|title=Stärkt position för finskan och isländskan i Nordiska rådet|date=31 October 2018|access-date=4 February 2020|language=sv|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102200403/https://www.norden.org/sv/news/starkt-position-finskan-och-islandskan-i-nordiska-radet|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.norden.org/fi/uutinen/suomen-ja-islannin-kielen-asema-vahvistuu-pohjoismaiden-neuvostossa|title=Suomen ja islannin kielen asema vahvistuu Pohjoismaiden neuvostossa|date=31 October 2018|access-date=4 February 2020|language=fi|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409201034/https://www.norden.org/fi/uutinen/suomen-ja-islannin-kielen-asema-vahvistuu-pohjoismaiden-neuvostossa|url-status=live}}</ref>