An integrated Nordic market with fewer regulatory and administrative differences is the goal of a joint proposal presented by business organisations from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland on 1 October. They are asking Nordic governments to make it easier to work, invest, conduct research and do business across the region.
The Blueprint for an Integrated Nordic Market was developed by Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI) together with business organisations from the other four Nordic countries. It argues that existing cross-border rights do not always translate into a market that works smoothly in practice.
The proposal was presented to Danish Minister for Business and Competitiveness Martin Lidegaard and his Nordic counterparts. It is a set of recommendations from business organisations, rather than an agreement already adopted by the five governments.
Why businesses say the Nordic market is still fragmented
According to the blueprint, companies operating across Nordic borders can still encounter different technical requirements, authorisation systems, labour and tax rules, documentation requirements and administrative interpretations.
The organisations argue that these differences can increase costs and make it harder for companies to expand across neighbouring Nordic markets.
Danish Industry gives examples such as equipment already approved in Denmark potentially requiring another inspection in Sweden, or employees having to complete additional national training before performing a similar task across the border.
Danish Industry CEO Lars Sandahl Sørensen said the remaining barriers risk weakening Nordic competitiveness.
“We need to act now if we want to preserve our competitiveness.”
The proposal does not call for a new set of Nordic market rules or for reopening EU legislation. Instead, its authors want national governments to coordinate more closely when implementing and interpreting existing rules.
A Nordic neighbour check for new rules
One of the central proposals is a Nordic neighbour check.
Before national solutions are finalised, governments would examine how the same rules are being implemented in the other Nordic countries. The stated aim is to identify unnecessary differences before they become new cross-border barriers.
The organisations also propose an annual shortlist of business-critical obstacles linked to EU legislation, with clearly identified responsibilities and deadlines for dealing with them.
Among the first areas identified in the blueprint are packaging, waste and circular economy rules, cross-border services and companies’ ability to interact digitally with public authorities in another Nordic country.
A second mechanism, described as a Single Market check, would apply when governments prepare new national legislation. Authorities would assess whether a proposed rule could make cross-border trade more difficult, increase regulatory divergence or create additional administrative burdens.
The blueprint stresses that this would not prevent governments from regulating according to national priorities. Instead, cross-border consequences would become one of the factors considered when national rules are designed.
An integrated Nordic market as a model for Europe
The proposal also has a wider European dimension. Its authors argue that the Nordic countries could use their high degree of integration and long tradition of cooperation to test ways of making the European Single Market work more consistently in practice.
The central idea of the blueprint is that Nordic governments could develop practical solutions to national fragmentation that may later serve as examples elsewhere in Europe.
The business organisations also say the economic potential could be substantial, although the figures they cite are estimates commissioned by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise rather than official government forecasts.
According to those calculations, a less fragmented Nordic market could be associated with GDP gains of more than 2.5% in Denmark and Finland, nearly 4% in Sweden and around 5% or more in Iceland and Norway. Swedish exports to Iceland and Norway could almost double, while exports to Denmark and Finland could increase by around 30%.
The blueprint is backed by six organisations representing the five Nordic countries: Danish Industry, the Confederation of Finnish Industries, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise and the Federation of Icelandic Industries.
From Nordic cooperation to a functioning common market
The proposal builds on the Nordic countries’ existing ambition to become the world’s most sustainable and integrated region by 2030, but argues that political cooperation has not yet produced a fully integrated market in everyday business activity.
For the organisations behind the blueprint, the next step is therefore less about creating new formal rights and more about making existing ones work across borders.
Whether governments adopt the proposed checks remains open. But the document puts a concrete question on the Nordic political agenda: whether five closely connected economies can reduce national regulatory differences enough for companies to treat the region increasingly as a single home market.
