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Working on the Baltic Sea – long shifts and a close community
Apr 27, 2023 The ferries between the Nordics and the Baltics are important transport corridors and keep a lot of people in employment. One of the boats doing the crossing is Aura Seaways, where 52 crew live and work for four weeks at a time.
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Scarpetta: The OECD has learned a lot from studying the Nordics
Apr 27, 2023 Stefano Scarpetta is excited when he goes up to the podium at the start of the OECD and Nordic Council of Ministers conference in Reykjavik. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you for the fantastic northern lights that we got to experience last night!"
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New OECD report: lessons for Nordics' crisis preparedness
Mar 23, 2023 The OECD has looked at how the Nordic region handled the corona crisis and which lessons might be learned when dealing with new labour market crises. What sets the Nordics apart from other industrial nations was the close cooperation with the social partners.
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Denmark's 50 years long tug-of-war with the EU
Mar 23, 2023 Denmark is the EU veteran among the Nordic countries. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Denmark joining the EC, as it was called back then. And during all these years, the Danes – with increasing difficulty – have fought to maintain their labour market model. Now, they have run out of patience and the tug of war has culminated with Denmark trying to have the minimum wage directive ruled invalid.
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Iceland starting to ponder EU membership
Mar 23, 2023 Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009, after the collapse of the banking system almost bankrupted the country. The government at the time, led by the EU-friendly Social Democratic Party, believed membership was vital for financial stability. The Euro was also seen as better than the small and unstable krona.
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How the EEA grant gives Norway influence in the EU
Mar 23, 2023 Norway and Iceland have full access to the EU internal market thanks to the EEA agreement. But they have to pay a fee. Between 2004 and 2021, Norway paid a total of 60 billion Norwegian kroner (€5.3bn) for access. The difference is that the country has a say in what the money is used for, which brings both influence and attention. A new report details what has been achieved.
Portrait
The Norwegian civil servant working for Sweden
Mar 23, 2023 In January, Norwegian Finn Ola Jølstad swapped his day job as a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion in Oslo for a job at the Swedish Ministry of Employment. His job exchange lasts six months and falls right in the middle of Sweden’s EU Presidency.
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The greatest threats to energy supply in the Nordic region
Mar 23, 2023 Nordic Energy Research has presented a list of risks to the energy market. Topping it, somewhat surprisingly, is the long approval process facing new energy projects along with the fact that there is little public support for state-funded infrastructure investments.
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2023 Gender Equality Barometer: a dramatic fall
Feb 27, 2023 A dramatic fall from 92 to 77 female points – that is the result in the Nordic Labour Journal’s gender equality barometer 2023. It measures whether a man or a woman holds 24 positions of power in the five Nordic countries. 100 points for both genders would mean full equality.
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