Nordic Union (1983: Doomsday)
From Alternative History
| Norðurlandarsambandið Den nordiske union Nordic Union | |
| Timeline: 1983: Doomsday | |
| 1990 - | |
 'Flag of the Nordic Union | |
| Geographical location | |
 Populated areas of the former Nordic countries as of 2000. | |
| Cities: |
Helsinki, Stockholm, Trondheim, Reykjavik |
| Official languages: | Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish and Finnish |
| Government: | President |
| Secretary: - 1990-1996: - 1996-2002: - 2000-2008: - 2008-: | Olof Palme (Sweden) Kåre Willoch (H) Davíð Oddsson (SE) Thorbjørn Jagland (Ap) |
| Legislature: | Nordic Law Thing 1 |
| Established: | September 26, 1990 |
| Currency: | Nordic Krone - NUK |
| Notes: 1: In Norwegian it is called Det nordiske lagting, in Danish Det nordiske lagting, in Sweden Det nordiska lagting and in Icelandic Norðurlandarlögþing. | |
The Nordic Union (NU) is an economic and political union of 8 member states. The successor of the Nordic Council, it was established by the Treaty of Trondheim in 1990 by the Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic governments.
Despite having a shared political system and union, the two countries are relatively independent, relying on the Icelandic fishing and the Norwegian oil industry. Several other Scandinavian countries have since joined the union aswell.
Contents |
[edit] History
After the Third World War, the Nordic countries struggled to rebuild their countries following several nuclear attacks, nuclear fallout, and a subsequent short conflict with Soviet troops in the northern of Norway. However, the nation survived mainly due to their morale boost created by the popular Norwegian king Olav V and his successor Harald V.
On September 26 1990, the surviving Icelandic, Norwegian and Danish governments, along with the Swedish and Finnish governments, declared the foundation of the “Nordic Union” comprising Sweden, Finland, Iceland, parts of Norway, parts of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Svalbard and Bouvet.
[edit] Industry
The economy of the Nordic Union has been based on mutual cooperation, with the basic idea of sharing all of their resources with eachother.
Norway is the union's largest energy provider, being the largest exporter of hydropower an of oil and natural gas, making the Nordic countries self-sufficient on fossil fuels. They are also a major exporter of timber.
Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland they also provide the largest supplies of fish and seafood.
Denmark is the union's main agricultural provider, which includes exports of including poultry, pork, dairy products and grain. has been partially rebuilt by fishing and oil. While most of the Norwegian coastline has been polluted by radioactive waste or is too cold for the fishing, the Norwegian still rely on the their former large oil industry for domestic use, while the fishing zones around Iceland and to some degree around the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Svalbard is still suitable for fishing.
Sweden comprises the majority of the union's heavy industry. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. Telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. They also rely on timber, hydropower and iron ore.
Finland is the union's largest contributor of timber, but also along with Sweden contributes with electronics (Nokia), chemical industry as well as nuclear power.
[edit] Members of the Union
The union consists of the following members:
| Date | Country | Head of State | Prime Minister | Enlargement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 26, 1990 |  Kingdom of Norway(Kongeriket Norge/Kongeriket Noreg) | King Harald V | Jens Stoltenberg (DNA) | Founders |
 Republic of Iceland(Lýðveldið Ísland) | Pres. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson | Davíð Oddsson (SE) | ||
 Kingdom of Sweden(Konungariket Sverige) | King Carl XVI Gustaf | Göran Persson (SD) | ||
 Kingdom of Denmark(Kongeriget Danmark) | Queen Margrethe II | Anders Fogh Rasmussen (V) | ||
 Republic of Finland(Suomen tasavalta) | Pres. Martti Ahtisaari | Paavo Lipponen (SDP) | ||
| September 26, 1991 |  Faroe Islands(Føroyar/Færøerne) | King Harald V | Kaj Leo Johannesen (Sf) | First |
 Greenland(Kalaallit Nunaat) | King Harald V | Hans Enoksen (Siumut) |
[edit] Political system
[edit] Nordic Law Thing
The Nordic Law Thing forms one half of the Nordic Union's legislature. The 87 members of the Nordic Law Thing (MNL) are directly elected by Nordic Union citizens every five years. Although MNLs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats.
Each of the Nordic countries have twenty seats in the council, Iceland, however, only seven. Faroe Islands and Greenland each have two members who are part of the Danish delegation. Aland has also included two members of the Finnish delegation. The composition of the Nordic Council are the following:
- Denmark (16)
- Finland (18)
- Faroe Islands (2)
- Greenland (2)
- Iceland (7)
- Norway (20)
- Sweden (20)
- Åland (2)
[edit] Committee and party groups
The MNLs sit according to political groups or commitee rather than their nationality. The Nordic Law Thing is divided into the following
- Culture and Education
- Welfare Committee
- Civic and Consumer Committee
- Energy Committee
- Agriculture and Fisheries Committee
- Environment and Nature Conservation Committee
- Business Committee
- Defence and Foreign Affairs Committee
And in the four party groups:
| Name | Ideology | Parties represented |
|---|---|---|
| Nordens Liberalister Nordic Liberals | Social Liberalism | Fremskrittspartiet (FrP) Venstre (NV) Framsóknarflokkurinn (Ff) Venstre (DV) Det Radikale Venstre (B) Folkpartiet liberalerna (Fp) Kansallinen Kokoomus (Kok.) Sjálvstýrisflokkurin Demokraatit
|
| Nordens Konservative Nordic Conservatives | Centre-right Conservatism | Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF) Høyre (H) Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn (SF) Det Konservative Folkeparti (C) Moderata samlingspartiet (Ms) Kansallinen Kokoomus (Kok.) Sambandsflokkurin Atassut
|
| Nordens Sosialdemokrater Nordic Social Democrats | Social Democracy | Arbeiderpartiet (Ap) Samfylkingin (S) Socialdemokratiet (A) Arbetarepartiet-Socialdemokraterna Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (SDP) Javnaðarflokkurin Siumut
|
| Nordens Sentrister Nordic Centrists | Centrism, Agrarianism | Senterpartiet (Sp) Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð (V) Centrum-Demokraterne (DD) Centerpartiet Suomen Keskusta (Kesk) Miðflokkurin Atassut
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[edit] Nordic Council
The Nordic Council forms the other half of the Nordic Union's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member states and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different compositions, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
[edit] Policy making
The Thing and the Council form and pass legislation jointly, using co-decision, in certain areas of policy. This procedure has extend to many new areas under the Treaty of Stockholm, and hence increase the power and relevance of the Parliament. The Parliament also has the power to reject or censure the Council and the NU budget. The President of the Union carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice presidents are elected by MNLs every three years.
[edit] Internal politics
[edit] Politics in Norway
The focus of the main political parties in Norway was to focus on national consolidation and unity instead of emphasing political differences. However, shortly following the war the far-left political parties Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti - SV), Communist Party of Norway (Norges Kommunistiske Parti - NKP) and Red Electoral Alliance (Rød Valgallianse - RV) were banned, and a few members from SV, who were willing to moderate their political views, were allowed to join the Social Democrats.
Following the Third World War, the main political parties from both the left and right put their political differences aside to focus on national reconsiliation and rebuilding. The right-wing parties of Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet - FrP), Conservative Party (Høyre - H), Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti - KrF) and Liberal Party (Venstre - V) allied themselves with the left-wing parties of Social Democratic Party (Arbeiderpartiet - Ap) and Centre Party (Senterpartiet - Sp), and since then there has not been an election focusing mainly on party politics.
In the latest elections in Norway, the Norwegian Labour Party formed a grand coalition with the Progress Party and Conservative Party and the Norwegian Labour Party, focusing on national reconsiliation and improving both the economy by a mixture of nationalisation and privatisation.
[edit] Politics in Iceland
Since the end of the Third World War, the right-wing Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) and left-wing Social Democratic Party (Samfylkingin) has, like in Norway, put their political differences aside to focus on national reconsiliation and rebuilding. In the last election, the Independence Party improved their majority in the government, and is now working on expanding the economy by fishing.
[edit] Military of the Nordic Union
The defense of the Nordic Union is mostly carried out by the Armed Forces of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland as Iceland had no standing army since its independence in 1944. The armed forces of the Nordic Union numbers about 80,000 personnel, including civilian employees. The armed forces of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland is subordinated a unified command structure, with headquarters in Stockholm.
The armed forces is structured into the following branches:
- Army: Defending the union's sovereignty, and exploring the former wastelands in Northern Norway, Sweden and Denmark by WCRB reconnaissance missions.
- Coast Guard: Exploring the coastlines of the Nordic Union.
- Air Force: Supporting the army in exploration of the northern wastelands with smallscale WCRB aerial reconnaissance missions, alongside military duties
- Navy: provides maritme defence for the Nordic Union.
The armies of the Nordic Union comprises mainly of Swedish military equipment, mainly manufactured by the Saab company. Saab Viggens form the mainstay of the Air Force. The armies of Norway and Denmark does also comprise large numbers of West German (Leopard 1 tanks, G3 assault rifles - Norway still use their license-produced AG3s) and U.S. military equipment (M113s, F16 interceptor aircraft). The navy operates mostly Norwegian and Swedish naval vessels. Finland's armed forces comprises mostly locally-produced and former Soviet equipment.
[edit] See also
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