The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have adopted a comprehensive policy paper on the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA), comprising 14 regions across Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The policy report, funded by the EU and regional governments, recommends enhanced east-west transport infrastructure, comprehensive digital connectivity, and place-based, targeted policies to strengthen regional resilience and economic diversification.
The importance of stopping deforestation globally cannot be emphasised enough. Forests all over the world are habitats for a multitude of species and a sanctuary for life that cannot be lost. The forests are also crucial for the entire planet's ecosystem, its carbon sequestration and production of oxygen. However, the EU Deforestation Regulation has, in our view, passed through the legislative process far too quickly to be able to function effectively.
On April 9, North Sweden's Gölin Carina Christiansen and Jenny Hammersland met with the European Commission to discuss the Deforestation Regulation. From the European Commission, Gábor Lovasi, Policy Officer at the Directorate-General for the Environment, and Jesús Maria Alquézar Sabadie, Analyst at Directorate-General for the Environment, participated in the meeting. During the meeting, issues related to the implementation of the Deforestation Regulation were discussed, which will come into force in January 2025.
The European Commission is ready to back down on the requirement for geolocation of all forest biomass in the Deforestation regulation. This is stated in a letter from the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, Virginijus Sinkevičius to the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA).
Northern Sparsely Populated Areas, NSPA, has today sent a letter to Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries at the European Commission. The letter asks for an implementation of the deforestation regulation that works for the northern forest sector and one million forest farmers in the three countries.
10 Jan 2024 Forestry urgent matter for Ursula von der Leyen: Heading to Sweden
15 Dec 2023 “Important to clarify who will shoulder the responsibility for the railway”
07 Dec 2023 Company from northern Sweden wins European award for entrepreneurship
07 Dec 2023 The hydrogen actors of northern Sweden at the EU Hydrogen Week 2023
02 Nov 2023 The deforestation regulation, what’s next?
17 Oct 2023 Bothnian Corridor Newsletter: Setting the Stage for Swedish Infrastructure Policy
12 Jul 2023 Nature Restoration law: Legal certainty for land owners need to be respected
27 Feb 2023 Swedish regions unify for a sustainable pharmaceutical legislation in Europe
08 Feb 2023 Kiruna in the spotlight during the Swedish EU presidency inauguration
16 Dec 2022 Curious on Kiruna: North Sweden’s networking event ahead of the Swedish Presidency
03 Oct 2022 Invitation: Digital kick-off meeting on the 4th of October for the new EU-supported OECD-study
30 Sep 2022 The European Parliament adopted revisions to the Renewable Energy Directive despite opposition from multiple Member-States
30 Sep 2022 Concerning decision from the European parliament regarding the Deforestation regulation
30 Sep 2022 Europaforum Northern Sweden takes a stand together with forest regions in southern Europe
08 Sep 2022 European Forum of Northern Sweden’s views on REPowerEU
08 Apr 2022 Europaforum Northern Sweden’s views on LULUCF
08 Apr 2022 The European Commission's industrial policy director visit to Norrbotten
08 Apr 2022 EFNS views on renewable hydrogen in the Renewable Energy Directive
04 Apr 2022 NSPA forum 2022 - highly topical conference on northern Europe in the Arctic where many eyes are focused
21 Mar 2022 EU’s commissioner for energy visited northern Sweden
03 Feb 2022 Webinar with a focus on the EU Commission’s revision of the trans-European transport network
01 Dec 2021 Europaforum Northern Sweden’s position paper on EU’s updated Arctic policy
02 Nov 2021 Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA) meeting about Arctic policy and the EU Green Deal
29 Oct 2021 Workshop during European Week for Regions and Cities: green and digital transition in the European Arctic
20 Oct 2021 Discussions about infrastructure in Northern Sweden onboard on the Connecting Europe Express
15 Oct 2021 EU's new Arctic policy has been presented!
09 Jun 2021 Europaforum Northern Sweden’ position papers on EU's efforts in small labour markets and EU’s green industrial transition
30 Mar 2021 The Swedish government prioritises the Bothnian corridor in EU application
30 Mar 2021 Top politicians gathered to discuss the future rural development of the EU
23 Mar 2021 The Nordic region should play a leading role in Europe's digital development
17 Mar 2021 EU Industry Week 2021: Northern Sweden's minerals and batteries crucial to the EU's green deal
11 Mar 2021 The Nordic countries - a model in the transition to climate neutrality, says the European Commission
03 Mar 2021 The extension of the European core network corridors from a Nordic perspective
03 Mar 2021 New East Coast Line in high-level meeting with the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor
17 Feb 2021 Northern Sweden participates in the debate about the revision of the EU state aid rules
16 Feb 2021 North Sweden’s contribution to the European Parliament's study on transport infrastructure in the EU's low density- and depopulation areas
29 Jan 2021 Potential for world-leading mining industry in northern Sweden according to new OECD study
20 Jan 2021 NSPA in meeting with European Commission about the EU’s Arctic policy
16 Dec 2020 Arctic Futures Symposium 2020
14 Dec 2020 Upper Norrland has the highest level of social development in the EU
02 Dec 2020 Europaforum Northern Sweden's views on the long-term vision for rural areas
02 Dec 2020 European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) in the Kvarken region
12 Nov 2020 NSPA and the EU Arctic Ambassador on EU Arctic Policy
04 Nov 2020 NSPA universities in meeting with EU Arctic Ambassador
21 Oct 2020 The European Artic in EU post 2020 policies
21 Oct 2020 EWRC webinar Circular economy in the Arctic industries
07 Oct 2020 Northern Sparsely Populated Areas steering committee meeting on the EU budget and EU’s Arctic policy
29 Sep 2020 North Sweden welcomes the European Raw Materials Alliance
28 Sep 2020 Europaforum Northern Sweden’s position on digitalization
23 Sep 2020 NSPA in digital meeting with the European commission about future regional policy
18 Sep 2020 Umeå hosted international conference about research design
17 Sep 2020 State of the union – Northern Sweden a guiding example
15 Sep 2020 Northern Sweden puts forward the importance of a regional dimension on EU's forest strategy
15 Sep 2020 Northern Sweden's views on the proposal of a new national ESF+ programme
30 Jun 2020 NSPA:s views on EU Cohesion Policy
11 Mar 2020 The European Commission proposes 61 million euros to Upper Norrland for the restructuring of the steel industry
12 Feb 2020 North Sweden in meeting with the European Parliament Research Service
07 Feb 2020 Energy efficient datacenters discussed in the European parliament
15 Jan 2020 Northern Sweden’s minerals important for EU’s climate adaptation
18 Dec 2019 North Sweden gathered in force with big regional stakeholder meeting in Brussels
17 Dec 2019 Space activity to benefit the Arctic
06 Dec 2019 Roundtable discussion on future EU transport policy
27 Nov 2019 Swedish forestry in focus during two seminars on November 22
26 Nov 2019 Arctic Shorts - short film night with an arctic theme in Brussels
30 Oct 2019 EU-funded drone projects will streamline reindeer husbandry in Jämtland Härjedalen
16 Oct 2019 Regional actors participated during European Week of Regions & Cities 2019
16 Oct 2019 EU Arctic Forum 3–4 October 2019
16 Oct 2019 Deficiencies in infrastructure lower Northern Sweden's competitiveness
15 Oct 2019 Renewable energy transition in sparsely populated areas
26 Sep 2019 Norrbotten rewarded by EU: From three to four-star Reference Site in European healthy aging network
26 Sep 2019 Regional representatives from EU-counties signed declaration in Umeå for social sustainability in EU
16 Sep 2019 EU’s commissioner for health paid Umeå a visit
27 Jun 2019 Northern Sweden defends its position as strong innovation region
18 Jun 2019 European premier of the OECD’s international meeting on mining in Skellefteå
22 May 2019 NSPA Forum in Tromsø, Norge
20 May 2019 European Investment bank accepts loan for the biggest battery factory in Europe in Skellefteå, northern Sweden
04 Apr 2019 OECD study: How can Sweden include the Sami population in regional development?
26 Mar 2019 EU-Arctic final conference with North Sweden
21 Nov 2018 Frederic Versini’s Visit to Luleå November 7-8, 2018
28 Aug 2018 National Transport Plan for 2018-2029
01 Jun 2018 Swedish Government go to build the North Bothnia Line
22 Mar 2018 A milestone - ScanMed corridor to be extended to northern Sweden
05 Dec 2017 Swedish Forest Management and the Bioeconomy
18 Oct 2017 North Sweden seminar on the TEN-T and Core Network Corridors at the European Parliament
31 Aug 2017 Welcome About us Contact us Press release - Construction of North Bothia Line
29 Jun 2017 Pat Cox will visit Almedalen Political Week 2017
27 Apr 2017 Norrbotten and Västerbotten meet EU transoprt infrastrucutre representatives
27 Mar 2017 New activities launched at the railways sections in Northern Sweden
28 Feb 2017 Europaforum Northern Sweden adopts position CEF
10 Jun 2016 Pat Cox high-level visit to Northern Sweden
11 Mar 2016 The Europaforum North Sweden XXII in North Sweden, Piteå
10 Mar 2016 OECD on Study Mission
07 Mar 2016 Position on Cascading
07 Mar 2016 European Commission visit to northern Sweden
04 Jan 2016 SSAB - A highly specialized steel company
07 Dec 2015 The Connection between Europe and the Arctic
02 Dec 2015 Boliden - one of the world's largest mining and smelting companies
26 Nov 2015 North Sweden premiere a series of articles on Raw Materials in Northern Sweden
26 Apr 2015 NSPA seminar with the OECD in Piteå
23 Mar 2015 NSPA has formally initiated the work with the OECD study
09 Feb 2015 The Future of navigation in the North 2015
11 Dec 2014 Luleå University of Technology in billion EU-investment
24 Nov 2014 NSPA seminar on "Transport infrastructure in the European Arctic"
12 Nov 2014 The Silver Road Corridor - strengthening regional cooperation
10 Nov 2014 The Arctic on the agenda during NSPA’s forum in Bodø
23 Oct 2014 Sustainable mining in Northern Sweden
16 Oct 2014 Smart growth a theme on NSPA side event during Open Days 2014
06 Jul 2014 The Impact of Culture - Creative businesses for sustainable cities
