From: top-of-europe@norden.org
Sent: 4. heinäkuuta 2005 11:34
To: nifca@nifca.org
Subject: Norden - The top of Europe: The Nordic Monthly Review

Your monthly link to the latest news on Nordic cooperation, people and politics.
This month's news from Norden - the Top of Europe - July, 2005 - http://www.norden.org/topofeurope/
The newsletter is also available in Russian.

Can Norwegian cicadas sing?
Cikada Ensemble awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize 2005
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Russian MPs on exchange visit
Russian MPs visited Denmark and Iceland in June as part of a comprehensive exchange visit programme.
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Gender equality good for the police
More women in the police force would promote gender equality in the rest of society, according to policewomen gathered for a conference of the Nordic-Baltic Network of Policewomen in June.
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Nordic study of food sector
The Nordic Council of Ministers is providing a grant of DKK 1.4 million to fund a joint study of the food sector in the Region proposed by the national fair trading authorities.
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Nordic-Baltic campaign against drugs
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia held “The Nordic Council of Ministers Action Plan for Combating the Use of Drugs - Best Practice Seminar” on the 6th of June as part of the war on drugs.
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Action Plan for Adjacent Areas evaluated
Since 1999, more than 400 projects with some form of Nordic funding have been run to improve the standard of living of children and young people in vulnerable social groups in the Baltic States and North-West Russia.
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Streamlining Nordic co-operation
The Nordic governments have decided to streamline co-operation and simplify the structure of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The number of Council of Ministers will be cut from 18 to 11.
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Cultural institutions to close
The Nordic Music Committee (NOMUS), the Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA), the Nordic Literature and Library Committee (NORDBOK) and the Nordic Centre for the Performing Arts (NordScen) will cease to operate as official Nordic institutions in 2007 as a result of the structural changes to cultural co-operation in the Region agreed by the Ministers of Culture.
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Nordic Forum discusses the increase of pornography
The Estonian Minister of Social Affairs, Jaak Aab, stressed the important work the Nordic Council of Ministers has done to combat trafficking in women, to promote gender equality and to raise the issue of the increase of pornography in the public sphere.
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New Border Regions Network
A Nordic-funded network of border regions in the Baltic Sea Region will be launched by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Council of the Baltic Sea States in September. Baltic Euroregional Network (BEN) will have a total budget of €1.4 million and has just been approved for funding by the EU Baltic Sea Region Interreg III B Neighbourhood Programme.
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Arctic co-operation high up agenda
Representatives of the Nordic Council and the Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians gathered in St. Petersburg in Russia to discuss the future of parliamentary co-operation in the Arctic Region. One of the many themes on the agenda was the follow up to the ACIA report about climate changes.
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Wanted: Region without borders
Connie Hedegaard, who doubles as the Danish Minister of the Environment and Minister for Nordic Co-operation, invited selected Danish ministries to an internal seminar under the auspices of the Danish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers 2005.
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Revitalising cultural co-operation
When they convened in June, the Nordic Ministers of Culture considered proposals drawn up by the Nordic Structure Group to reform and revitalise Nordic cultural co-operation.
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