Nordic Council of Ministers calls for Nordic tripartite dialogue

The green and digital transitions require tomorrow’s workforce to have a new skillset. This places demands not only on education but also on a more flexible labour market, something that Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Karen Ellemann, pointed out in her closing speech at the congress.

“We need to promote job mobility by creating a more flexible, inclusive, and dynamic labour market. This includes removing barriers to mobility across sectors and regions, promoting lifelong learning, and ensuring that workers can easily transition into new roles as the market changes,” said Ellemann.

She also highlighted how crucial the Nordic model is for the labour market and stated that it must once again prove its effectiveness. The challenge is now to identify tools to equip the labour force with the new skills they require.

“That’s why the Nordic Council of Ministers is now initiating efforts to promote a Nordic tripartite dialogue with the aim of bridging the skills gap. We’ll bring together employers, workers, and representatives from the education sector across the Nordic Region. We’re aware of the challenges, which are similar across the region, and our focus will be on the solutions,” said Ellemann.

The Nordic contribution to the conference was significant. In addition to Karen Ellemann, the chair of the Nordic Freedom of Movement Council, Anders Ahnlid, and the director of the research institute Nordregio, Rolf Elmér, also participated.

Ahnlid, who is also Director-General of the Swedish National Board of Trade, emphasised the key role of the OECD in cross-border regional co-operation. He stressed the importance of removing obstacles that hamper the free movement of labour across borders and thus also hold back growth.

He also pointed out the significance of the OECD co-hosting its conference together with the Nordic Council of Ministers and others.

“The OECD is a world leader in providing evidence-based decision-making frameworks, also for cross-border regional co-operation. Managing the partnership with them effectively will be very important going forwards,” said Ahnlid. 

Rolf Elmér also stressed the importance of freedom of movement and noted that migration between the Nordic countries is actually only about half of what it is in the rest of Europe. He would like to see more focus on pull factors, that is, the incentives that encourage people to move to another country and stay there.

“We can increase migration between our countries if we become more integrated,” he said.

The vision of the Nordic Council of Ministers is for the Nordic Region to be the most integrated and sustainable region in the world by 2030. A prerequisite for achieving the goals of this vision is to remove the bureaucratic and administrative obstacles that stand in the way of freedom of movement.