North Sweden European Office

The North Sweden European Office is Norrbotten and Västerbotten's direct link to the EU. The goal of the operation is to create conditions for the region's companies, academia and public sector to act successfully in the EU arena.

North Sweden works primarily on issues that are important to the region in European cooperation. Another important element of the activities is to support and encourage the region's actors to take advantage of EU funding opportunities to develop their own activities.

North Sweden has an office in Brussels that is shared with the North Norway European Office. Having a regional office in Brussels is not unique to northern Sweden. Today, over 300 regions and cities are represented with corresponding offices in Brussels. The representation provides the opportunity to follow the legislative processes and to alert decision-makers at an early stage to how legislation may affect, in our case, northern Sweden.

An important element of the operation is to make it easier for the region to take advantage of the opportunities that EU membership brings through collaborations and financing of development projects. North Sweden also works to market the region's strengths and show how the region's actors contribute to solving the Union's challenges through production, innovation and cooperation. The regions of Northern Sweden, Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland Härjedalen and Västernorrland, have similar conditions and challenges in the EU context. Together we form the administrative program area that the EU calls "Upper Norrland and Central Norrland".

North Sweden was established in Brussels in 1997 and is a collaborative project between the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Region Norrbotten, Region Västerbotten, Norrbotten Municipalities, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Norrbotten and Västerbotten, as well as Luleå University of Technology and Umeå University.

Read more on the North Sweden European Office website