Nordic cooperation, resilient regions
and the regional policy in Iceland

Dear guest at Nordregio Forum 2019.

Iceland has had the pleasure of chairing the Nordic Council of Ministers this year, and I have had an opportunity to wear two interesting and important hats during this time, both as the Minister for Nordic Cooperation and the Minister for Regional Policies.

We started the presidency with an ambitious plan. Our presidency program “Common Path”, with its point of departure in the timeless wisdom of Hávamál, Sayings of the High One, refers to the foundation of Nordic cooperation, our common values, trust the Nordic gold and friendship. The path to a friend is always easy to tread.

During our presidency we have prioritized three areas:

• Youth in the Nordic region, the importance of engaging young people. We all know about the energy young people have brought to the table, not least regarding the climate crises.
• The oceans are a common theme in all the presidencies of Iceland this year, not only for the Nordic Council of Ministers, but also the Arctic Council and the cooperation of Nordic and Baltic Foreign Ministers, for example. The sea is the main road for people and ideas, a transport network for goods and services and a sustainable source of welfare and values. The importance of the sea is indisputable for culture, trade and the entire nature of the Nordic region. Plastics, energy transformation, innovation and the blue bio economy are our activities to fight for a healthy ocean.
• Last but not least we focus on sustainable tourism in the north. Tourism continues to be extremely important in Iceland, and the same can be said about our closest neighbours, as well as the northern parts of Scandinavia and Finland. Despite a little decline in the number of foreign tourists in Iceland this year, we are still receiving well over two million visitors.

All these guests are not without impact, both positive and negative. We need to maintain the natural wonders and environmental goods most of our tourists come to see. We need to minimize the climate footprint of the tourism industry. At the same time, we need to continue to innovate within the industry, for example by using local food traditions and food innovation to attract and provide content.

The Icelandic presidency is looking forward to continuing working with these issues, the presidency projects will run until 2021. We have emphasized results and so far, we have a reason to be optimistic.

Icelandic chairmanship coming to end

We are nearing the end of our presidency year and the number of events is close to 180. This has been a big task, at the same time interesting, exciting and giving. I can tell you that we could never have done it without the dedication of other ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the great work of the Secretariat in Copenhagen and the excellent work of our Nordic institutions such as Nordregio and NORA. Thank you for your contribution.

During the year we have also worked together on formulating a new vision for the Nordic Council of Ministers. All Nordic countries have been actively involved in the process so far, and the Ministers of Nordic Cooperation are very much looking forward to seeing and deciding, in February, which ideas and activities will implement the vision.

Our Vision 2030 is ambitious and has created expectations, but equally as important I believe that it is also timely and relevant. Addressing the most important challenges of today, building on Nordic strengths, addressing the weaknesses and focusing on results and solutions.

We need to think anew, be creative and innovative. New activities, new partnerships, breaking down silos, thinking outside of the box is the order of the day. Business as usual is not enough.

Regional cooperation in the Nordic countries

It was great pleasure at the meeting of regional ministers here in Reykjavik this summer that the North Atlantic Development Strategy (NAUST) was set out. With this the North Atlantic region has received increased attention during our presidency.

The strategy will provide direction and guide in the North Atlantic cooperation, which covers the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and coastal Norway. It deepens the cooperation program for regional development and planning and is a good knowledge base for further development in the region.

As some of you know it has been a long but fulfilled process to reach a document that satisfies everyone, but we have succeeded.

The Icelandic Presidency in 2014 took the initiative to develop a strategy together with all the Nordic countries. The Nordic Cooperation Committee (MR-SAM) supported this work. It is therefore very gratifying that we finish this work during our presidency five years later.

We have given the strategy air under the wings and impact by seeking partnerships for pilot projects in all other sectors within the Council of Ministers and by seeking additional project funding where appropriate.

NORA in the Faroe Islands will use NAUST's goals and priorities in its work, in strategic development and through action plans and activities, and set measurable goals for its work. I am very grateful for this work and congratulate the Regional Committee (EK-R) and the Secretariat for their contribution to the strategy.

But other issues have also been high on the Nordic agenda. They are Climate and the Environment – here we and the world face huge challenges and no one is an island in that regard. The Nordic ministers are determined to gather their forces, as much is at stake for us and everyone living in the Arctic.

This has a huge impact on the regional sectors as well as others and the sector will need to have a powerful and focused approach, results will not be achieved unless everyone is on board. And there are many opportunities for municipalities and regions to do better in climate and environmental issues.

Regional development in Iceland

Dear guests

The Government of Iceland, which is celebrating a two-year term at the end of the month, places great emphasis on regional affairs.

It is important for every country to have a strong regional policy that promotes improved living standards and ensures equal access to service and job opportunities, irrespective of economic means and place of residence.

In this respect, the Nordic countries have a great deal of coherence, the challenges we are facing are similar, situations are the same and therefore it is important that we work together. Nordregio has contributed a lot with its research and network and The State of the Nordic region, which will be released early next year, is a good testimony to that.

Regional policy concerns all fields and the society as a whole – and they must be approached from that perspective, as we do about gender equality. Regional affairs are mainstream.

This has been my approach and as Minister of Regional Affairs I have urged my colleague in government to see it the same way and that regional dimension should be integrated in other other policies and decisions wherever appropriate.

The Municipalities also play a major role when it comes to regional affairs. Our aim has been to activate them, and I think it is safe to say that there is good cooperation and understanding between the government and the municipalities on the importance of regional affairs for economic growth and the competitiveness of the country.

We are now working together on three important policies and projects that aim to improve living standards and quality of life throughout the country.

First, is the Strategic Regional Development Plan for the period 2018-2024, which was passed by Parliament about one and a half year ago.

The main goals of the strategic regional plan are to:

equalize access to services,

equalize employment opportunities,

promote the sustainable development of regions throughout the country.

These objectives lead to direct and designated actions and a few examples of important are:

That all legal domiciles and companies occupied throughout the year or business operations in rural areas shall have access to fiber optic connectivity. In the year 2021, wired internet connectivity of at least 100 Mb/sec should be available to 99.9% of legal domiciles/business operations in rural areas.

Supporting distance health services shall seek to equalize public access to general and specialist health services.

To support retail and shopping in areas of sparse population.

To make domestic flight a realistic option for residents of rural areas – the Scottish way as we call it.

To ensure that residents of Iceland, irrespective of place of residence, have equal access to basic public services through improved conditions and technological solutions.

To ensure that 10% of all advertised jobs at ministries and their institutions shall be without specified location by the year 2024, meaning that residence has no influence on ministry staff selection

Good cooperation between ministries and Local Authorities ensures that we are well on track in implementing this important plan, which will be revised in two years.

Secondly, we have created partnerships that brings the regional Associations of Local Authorities increased authority and responsibility for regional development - so-called Regional Plans of Action.

They consist of an assessment of the situation in the region, a future vision, specific targets and actions aimed at achieving those targets.

Regional Plans of Action set out regional priorities that consider the main objectives of the strategic regional plan and other public policies.

The aim is to increase the sustainability of the regions, to bring responsibility for their own affairs back into the region, to better engage the population in regional development, and thereby decentralize power.

The State provides the Regional Associations with funding and the Municipalities and local businesses participate as well.

It is safe to say that this has been successful and in the beginning of next year eight new Regional Plans of Actions for the years 2020-2024 will take effect.

Finally, I would like to mention that the government and the municipalities have been working on creating the first comprehensive policy for the Local Government level, for the 15 years and an action plan for 5 years.

In modern society the demand for services is greater, tasks and responsibilities have been moved to the municipalities, there is an increased demand for professionalism in administration in a complex society and for high quality services as well as for services that the municipalities are not legally required to provide.

All this makes it necessary to re-evaluate the present arrangement. The goal of the policy and action plan is to strengthen the municipalities so that they will be sustainable service and administration units.

Various actions are defined to achieve this goal, including:

to strengthen the conditions of elected representatives,

improve relations between state and local authorities,

large-scale digital technologies that municipalities use in services and more.

To make this possible the number of municipalities must be reduced and the tasks that they must be able to fulfil autonomously must be clearly defined.

The most noticed proposal in the resolution is that a minimum population will again be set in the Local Government Act and that it will be 1000 by the elections in 2026.

That means that all municipalities with fewer residents will have to amalgamate by 2026.

Today, more than half of the municipalities have less than 1000 residents and the smallest has less than 40. Therefore, this would have a significant impact on the number of municipalities - they are today 72 but could be reduce by perhaps 40 – and would be close to 30 in total after this change.

A proposal for a parliamentary resolution laying out this policy was submitted to the parliament in the beginning of October. If the Parliament approves it, which I hope will before the end of this year, then subsequently a new bill or an amendment to the Local Government Act a will be put forward which implements this new policy.

The proposal generally has an overwhelming support from the municipalities as well as the Association of Local Government. If approved by Parliament, the resolution will also greatly increase the ability of municipalities to participate in the governments work on regional affairs.

I would like to end my opening speech by showing you a short video which presents the main objectives of this important and timely reform and illustrate the positive effects of it for the municipalities and regional affairs as well.

Best wishes for you stay in Iceland and participation in Nordregio Forum 2019.