Structure
The Nordic Council has 87 members, elected among the members of the national parliaments. The composition of the council reflects the relative representation of the political parties in the national parliaments. It holds its main session in the autumn, while a so-called theme session is arranged in the spring. Each of the national delegations has its own secretariat in the national parliament. The autonomous territories—Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland—also have Nordic secretariats.
The Nordic Council uses the three Continental-Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) as its official working languages, however it publishes material in Finnish, Icelandic and English, as well. Under the Nordic Language Convention, since 1987, citizens of the Nordic countries have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable to any interpretation or translation costs. The Convention covers visits to hospitals, job centres, the police and social security offices. The languages included are Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic.
The Nordic Council and the Council of Ministers have their headquarters Ved Stranden in Copenhagen and various installations in each separate country, as well as many offices in neighbouring countries. The Council does not have any formal power on its own, but each government has to implement any decisions through its country's legislative assembly (parliament). With Denmark, Norway and Iceland being members of NATO and Finland and Sweden being neutral, the Nordic Council has not been involved in any military cooperation.
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