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Nordic government ministers responsible for working life meet once a year in a council of ministers. It discusses common political challenges, experiences and new labour market related initiatives. Present are government ministers or their representatives from all of the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and representatives from the autonomous areas of Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Copenhagen-based administration led by Secretary General Dagfinn Høybråten hosts the meeting together with the country holding that year’s Presidency. In 2014 Iceland has held the Presidency, and Denmark takes the reins in 2015. A part of the meeting also includes debates with the social partners. Other professional are also invited to address specific issues. During the latest meeting the debate centred on the Nordic model, using as a starting point the 2014 ETLA report; ‘The Nordic Model - challenged but capable of reform’.
Helle Stensbak from The Norwegian Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS):
“Small salary differences, high welfare levels and high productivity represent the core of the Nordic model.
“The fact that these three are all present is not a coincident. One of these markers, small differences in income, support the other two, high welfare and high productivity. Small differences in income means the productivity gain is shared more evenly among the population, and this increases the overall economic wellfare level. Small differences in income also means those on the lowest pay still enjoy relatively high wages. This attracts investment and increases productivity, and high productivity promotes high welfare, as long as we keep employment rates up.
“In the Nordic region important parts of the wage formation has been taking place on a nationally coordinated level with strong social partners. It is necessary to have strong parties representing both employees and employers to achieve a nationally coordinated wage formation, because this allows you to take into account both real wage growth and employment levels.
Erik Simonsen from The Confederation of Danish Employers (DA):
“The ETLA report underlines the need for reforms to make the Nordic welfare models more economically sustainable for the future. The report also points out that the Nordic countries have managed to carry out necessary reforms in the past. This will hopefully also be the case in the future.”
Mark Pearson, OECD’s Deputy-Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs:
“Let’s be clear. The analyses show that the Nordic model has managed to face the challenges in the wake of the economic crisis better than any other model.”
The research report ‘The Nordic Model - challenged but capable of reform’ has been developed by a group of distinguished Nordic economists in cooperation with the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Finnish abbreviation: ETLA).
An executive summary of the report is now available on the Nordic Council of Ministers’ website.
You can read previous stories about the ETLA report published in the Nordic Labour Journal here:
What about the next 60? New report predicts continued success for the Nordic model
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OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University,
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