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2 History, Culture, Language, and Organisation
2.1 History,
Culture, Language
2.2 Level of integration
2.3 Political and
Administrational Organisation
2.3.1 Central Level
2.3.2 Regional Level
2.1 History, Culture, Language
The border between Denmark and Sweden was not always drawn down through the Strait between the two Countries - the Oresund.
Before 1657, the whole Oresund Region was part of Denmark.
Ironically enough, the Danes and the Swedes - today regarding themselves as ‘brothers and sisters’ and ‘best of neighbours’ - then found themselves in constant wars and intrigues, and from 1658 Scania became part of Sweden.
Nevertheless, the language (still being almost similar) and the culture survived!
And even today, anyone in the region speaks the original language - with the charming dialects, which will hopefully always exist!
Thanks to the perfect understanding between Danes and Swedes - and their respective governments - a crossborder region has developed!
It is possible to live on one side of the Oresund and work on the other without being able to speak both languages (dialects) fluently. Only a 100-150 words of different meaning and sense has sneaked their way in between the two languages during the past 400 years, and blunders made in this connection are always met in the true sense of Scandinavian humour.
It is easy and unproblematic to communicate across the Oresund.
In retrospect, it is remarkable that two governments could agree at all to a crossborderregion - a region comprising national sub-regions on both sides of the border.
The governments of Denmark and Sweden did it!
Although differences still exist as far as taxation and social welfare systems are concerned, the vision for the region by the governments and the people secure the ongoing process to success.
Not least at municipal, county, and central level, all efforts are being pursued in order to secure the success of integration.
Project organisations are forming a most attractive part in the integration process between Sealand and Scania. More than 100 transnational initiatives and projects have been established and are actively taking part in the integration process within culture, transport, infrastructure, labour market, etc.
It is a fact now, that a region - part of two territories, belonging to two separate are of two sovereign states - has become one region: the Oresund Region!
2.3 Political and Administrational Organisation
The Danish and Swedish structures of society and government are very similar.
Both countries are monarchies with the monarch as the formal regent. The Parliaments, the Folketing in Denmark and the Riksdag in Sweden, are both one chamber institutions, the members are elected by direct elections. The Danish parliament has 179 members (inclusive representatives from Greenland and the Faroe Islands) and the Swedish parliament has 349.
No law can come into force without the signature of the monarch.
This may seem strange to some, but not to a community who for generations has experienced that the balance between the people, their greatly supported royalties, and democratic elected government actually worked out to the benefit of all.
The political parties in the Danish parliament represents a wider political spectre than those of the Swedish parliament, mainly due to the difference in minimum percentage representation of the population; 2% in Denmark and 4% in Sweden.
As a result of this, 10 parties are represented in the Danish parliament, and 7 parties in the Swedish parliament.
Both Denmark and Sweden are organised in counties and municipalities.
The Swedish part of the Oresund Region consists of one county divided into 33 municipalities with a total of 1.116.600 inhabitants, and the Danish part consists of 5 counties, 2 county-independent municipalities, Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, and xx municipalities with a total of 2.358.625 inhabitants, totalling 3.475.225 inhabitants in the Region.
A close co-operation between the municipalities of Copenhagen and Malmo has existed for more than 25 years - supported by the Nordic council of Ministers - and has by now been expanded to include, eastern Denmark (Sealand and Islands - in popular terms - in Denmark) and Scania in Sweden.
The official bodies co-operating in the Region (in alphabetical order) are: