Close cooperation takes place in regard to mutual recognition of qualifications and periods of study, within the Nordic Council of Ministers as well as within the Nordic Recognition Network.
Several Nordic agreements on mutual recognition have been adopted, some of which are mentioned here.
The Reykjavik Declaration
In 2004 the Nordic Council of Ministers for Education and Research signed Reykjavik Declaration, the Nordic Declaration on Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education. The Reykjavik Declaration has been revised in 2016 and 2022.
The Reykjavik Declaration aims to promote:
- mutual recognition of higher education qualifications between the Nordic countries
- automatic recognition of comparable qualifications in higher education in the region
- co-operation on the assessment of qualifications obtained in Nordic and other countries, in particular via the NORRIC Network
Access to higher education
The Nordic countries have agree to recognise each other's access qualifications.
Cooperation on upper secondary education
This agreement covers general secondary as well as vocational education and training:
Nordic recognition network
The Nordic recognition information offices have formed a network, NORRIC, in order to facilitate the improvement of recognition practices in the Nordic countries and to go forward as a region, on the basis of the principles of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
Labour market agreements
The Nordic countries have concluded several agreements concerning a common labour market, including mutual recognition of qualifications.
General
- Agreement concerning a common Nordic labour market
- Agreement on a Nordic labour market for graduates – Retsinformation.dk (in Danish)
Teachers
- Agreement on a common Nordic labour market for class teachers in compulsory schools (also applies to the Faroe Islands and Greenland) – Retsinformation.dk (in Danish)
- Ministerial Order on the Extension of the Agreement to the Faroe Islands – Retsinformation.dk (in Danish)
- Agreement on a common labour market for specialist teachers, practical and artistic teachers, and specialist teachers in compulsory schools – Retsinformation.dk (in Danish)
- Agreement on common labour market for specialist teachers, practical and artistic teachers, and specialist teachers in upper secondary and vocational schools – Retsinformation.dk (in Danish)