The Nordic States and Agenda-Setting in the European Union: How Do Small States Score?

Abstract

This paper examines whether particular subjective features are better suited than objective feature, to study the ability of the Nordic EU member states to have a say within the environmental policy of the EU. The Nordic states will be placed within a conceptual framework intended to explain states' ability to exercise influence internationally. The paper will argue that traditional quantitative measures normally defining size of states, such as the population, territorial size, GDP and military strength, do not give a clear picture of their influence within the EU. The paper argues that subjective features, which are concerned with how various domestic and external actors regard the Nordic states in environmental matters, have enabled the Nordic states to punch above their weight in EU environmental policy-making. Also, it is maintained here that features such as Nordic politicians' ambitions and prioritizations and their ideas about EU decision-making processes may indicate their states' ability to influence within the Union. Furthermore, we claim that states' administrative competence and the degree of domestic cohesion, combined with the degree to which the state maintains an external united front are important indicators of their success in the EU.

Swedish bureaucratic biodiversity: Analysing municipal worker discourse with the theory of sociocultural viability

“…Each of the cities examined in this study refer to the need to protect biodiversity in their official documents (below). Swedish state authorities have held a reputation for pro‐active environmental action since the 1970s, ranking highly on the Environmental Performance Index (Magnusdottir & Thorhallsson, 2011; Midttun & Olsson, 2018). However, counter to this positive reputation trend has been the 2022 government decision to dissolve the Ministry of the Environment.…”

Positioning the Nordic Countries in European Union Environmental Policy

“…In terms of influencing EU environmental policy, Magnusdottir and Thorhallsson (2011) argue that Nordic member states are considered to enjoy greater influence than their size alone would merit. This, so the authors claim, is due to a number of factors, including a domestic consensus and united external front, the promotion of high environmental standards, and the image of the Nordic member states as environmental experts (Magnusdottir & Thorhallsson 2011).…”

“…In terms of influencing EU environmental policy, Magnusdottir and Thorhallsson (2011) argue that Nordic member states are considered to enjoy greater influence than their size alone would merit. This, so the authors claim, is due to a number of factors, including a domestic consensus and united external front, the promotion of high environmental standards, and the image of the Nordic member states as environmental experts (Magnusdottir & Thorhallsson 2011). As mentioned earlier, the Nordic countries have traditionally been described as countries that forcefully emphasize national sovereignty in cooperation arrangements (Olsen & Sverup, 1998, as cited in Jacobsson et al., 2004), taking a strong intergovernmental stand on environmental issues.…”

State learning and role playing : international environmental cooperation in the Arctic Council

“…When actors make use of persuasion, this is something de-linked from material power, and rather entails social power. Small states, notably the Scandinavian states, for instance, often tend to make use of an international strategy of being norm entrepreneurs, thus, increasing their 'perceptual size' (Ingebritsen, 2002;Magnúsdóttir and Thorhallsson, 2011).…”