Policy area: North Sweden in the EU
On March 24-25, the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA) Forum 2022 took place in Skellefteå. During the 1.5 days of the programme, participants were given discussions based on how the NSPA can deepen its cooperation between national borders and with the EU by being an important player in the Arctic. Since it was three years since the last forum in 2019, there was an extra pressure at this year's conference where Region Västerbotten and North Sweden hosted with up to 90 participants from northernmost Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
On March 17, Kadri Simson, EU-Commissioner responsible for EU energy policy, was in Norrbotten and Västerbotten to gain knowledge about the major industrial investments that are happening in northern Sweden and what the energy supply looks like for a green transition in the EU. She met with representatives from the industry but also regional politics.
The political network Europaforum Northern Sweden has adopted a position paper on the EU’s new Arctic policy launched on October the 13th 2021. Europaforum Northern Sweden welcomes the policy but underlines that the Arctic needs to be embraced by the EU in a greater holistic manner than the new policy manages to deliver.
On October 21, the network Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA) organized a digital steering group meeting. On the agenda were updates on the EU’s new Arctic Policy, the NSPA’s arctic investment platform (AIP), the importance of the forest to the European Green Deal, and the NSPA’s work forward.
On October 13, the European Commission adopted the EU's new integrated Arctic policy. The North Swedens is included in the EU's Arctic regions and a large part of the Arctic policy therefore affects the region. The Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA) network, which North Sweden European Office is a part of, have been active within the EU in order to maintain the focus of the previous Arctic policy from 2016, which centered a lot of its attention around the EU contributing to the regional development in the European Arctic. This is a focus that remains with the new policy.
09 Jun 2021 Europaforum Northern Sweden’ position papers on EU's efforts in small labour markets and EU’s green industrial transition
17 Mar 2021 EU Industry Week 2021: Northern Sweden's minerals and batteries crucial to the EU's green deal
03 Mar 2021 New East Coast Line in high-level meeting with the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor
03 Mar 2021 The extension of the European core network corridors from a Nordic perspective
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
12 Nov 2020 NSPA and the EU Arctic Ambassador on EU Arctic Policy
04 Nov 2020 NSPA universities in meeting with EU Arctic Ambassador
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
23 Sep 2020 NSPA in digital meeting with the European commission about future regional policy
17 Sep 2020 State of the union – Northern Sweden a guiding example
18 Dec 2019 North Sweden gathered in force with big regional stakeholder meeting in Brussels
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 EU Arctic Forum 3–4 October 2019
16 Oct 2019 Regional actors participated during European Week of Regions & Cities 2019
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
18 Jun 2019 European premier of the OECD’s international meeting on mining in Skellefteå
22 May 2019 NSPA Forum in Tromsø, Norge
04 Apr 2019 OECD study: How can Sweden include the Sami population in regional development?
11 Mar 2016 The Europaforum North Sweden XXII in North Sweden, Piteå
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
