Close to half of the population in Sweden and Denmark would prefer to be a member of a hypothetical union of Nordic nations, instead of the European Union, according to a recent public opinion poll.

The hypothetical “Nordic Union” would include Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.

However, the poll carried out by Sentio left-wing Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen was conducted only in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, The Local Norway reports.

It asked about 1,000 in each of the three countries whether they prefer the present situation – the European Union for Sweden and Denmark and the European Economic Area for Norway – or a closer “Nordic Union” which would theoretically have common policies in many areas.

A total of 47% of the respondents in Sweden and 45% of the respondents in Denmark said they would prefer a “Nordic Union” to the EU.

Those in favor of the EU were 32% of the polled Swedes and 36% of the polled Danes. The remainder in each country said they did not know.

As Norway is not a member of the EU but of the EEA, the Norwegian respondents were given a third option – aspiring for EU membership.

 Thus, 52% of those polled in Norway said they preferred to keep their country’s present situation of partnership with the European Union, 31% were in favor of the hypothetical “Nordic Union”, and 10% declared themselves in favor of seeking full-fledged EU membership.

The five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (and their autonomous areas of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Aland Islands) – already have an intergovernmental organization of their own.

They collaborate within the Nordic Council, a forum for inter-parliamentary cooperation found in 1952, and the Nordic Council of Ministers, an intergovernmental forum established in 1971.

The Nordic Council usually holds sessions twice per year – one regular session, and an extra session dedicated to a specific topic.

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