Blueprint for an Integrated Nordic Market September

Making Nordic market integration work in practice and demonstrating a model for Europe’s Single Market A better functioning EU Single Market with the free movement of goods, services, people and capital is one of Europe’s most powerful competitiveness tools. While many Nordic companies operate seamlessly across Nordic borders, barriers to trade in the Nordics remain everyday reality. Like the EU Single Market, the idea of an integrated Nordic Market is far from fully realised. By building a genuinely integrated Nordic market, the Nordic countries can lead by example in Europe. This requires not only shared values and close cooperation; it requires deliberate political choices about how national decisions interact in practice. With the Nordic Prime Ministers’ vision 20301 as a foundation, the Nordics are well placed to excel in both aspects. The blueprint presented in this paper explores how the Nordic countries can close the gap between the political ambition of an integrated Nordic market and the everyday reality for companies, and in doing so provide the rest of Europe with a viable model for a better functioning European Single Market.