The Northern Dimension (ND) policy aims at supporting stability, well-being and sustainable development in the Northern Dimension area/region through practical cooperation.

The geographic extent of the ND area is a flexible but can be considered to cover the Baltic and Barents regions, the North–East Atlantic, nearby Arctic and Sub–Arctic areas as well as other nearby regions in Europe.

The ND Policy emerged in the early 1990s as a Finnish initiative to advance synergies and cooperation in the wider Northern Europe, in the context of EU enlargement to include the Nordic and Baltic countries. The ND policy was originally adopted as an EU policy in 1999. In 2006 it was renewed as a joint policy of four partners: the European Union (EU), the Russian Federation (suspended in 2022*), Norway, and Iceland. In March 2022 the European Union, Iceland and Norway suspended until further notice all activities of the Northern Dimension policy which involve Russia, and have since that continued key ND activities among themselves.

The Northern Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics (NDPTL) is one of the Partnerships of the Northern Dimension Policy. The two other Northern Dimension partnerships active in 2023 include:

• The Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS);
• The Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC)

The structure, nature and tasks of these partnerships vary, but all three include elements of project funding activities and expert-oriented cooperation.

* The European Union, Iceland and Norway suspended 8.3.2022 until further notice all activities of the Northern Dimension policy which involve Russia. Read more.