Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomous areas of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.

It was proposed that the Nordic countries would unify their foreign policy and defence, remain neutral in the event of a conflict and not ally with NATO, which some were planning at the time.

This led Danish Prime Minister Hans Hedtoft to propose, on 13 August 1951, a consultative interparliamentary body.

[10][11][12] The council's first session was held in the Danish Parliament on 13 February 1953 and it elected Hans Hedtoft as its president.

There were also plans for a single market but they were abandoned in 1959 shortly before Denmark, Norway, and Sweden joined the European Free Trade Area (EFTA).

Finland became an associated member of EFTA in 1961 and Denmark and Norway applied to join the European Economic Community (EEC).

Danish Prime Minister Hilmar Baunsgaard proposed full economic cooperation ("Nordek") in 1968.

The council's remit was also expanded to include environmental protection and, in order to clean up the pollution in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic, a joint energy network was established.

The Nordic Science Policy Council was set up in 1983[16] and, in 1984, representatives from Greenland were allowed to join the Danish delegation.

[17] However, the initially envisioned tasks and functions of the Nordic Council have become partially dormant due to the significant overlap with the EU and EEA.

[19] Unlike the Benelux, there is no explicit provision in the Treaty on European Union that takes into account Nordic co-operation.

[25] On 31 October 2018, the council established it has five official languages, giving Finnish and Icelandic equal status with Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish from 1 January 2020 onward.

The then-President of the Council Michael Tetzschner thought the compromise good but also expressed concern over the change's expenses and hoped they would not increase so much that there would be pressure to switch over to using English.

[30] According to the council, "within the last couple of years, guests from other international and Nordic organisations have been able to take part in the debates at the Sessions.

During the move towards independence in the Baltic States in 1991, Denmark and Iceland pressed for the Observer Status in the Nordic Council for the then-nonsovereign Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The move was heavily opposed by the Soviet Union, accusing the Nordic Council of getting involved in its internal affairs.

[33] In the same year, the Nordic Council refused to give observer status for the three, at the time nonsovereign, Baltic states.

In addition, representatives of the Sámi people are de facto included in activities touching upon their interests.

[37] Three of the members of the Nordic Council (Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, all EU member states), the Baltic Assembly, and the Benelux sought intensifying cooperation in the Digital Single Market, as well as discussing social matters, the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, the European migrant crisis and defense cooperation.

[39] Scotland's relationship with the Nordics has also been explored by Scottish journalist Anthony Heron, who would go on to interview Bertel Haarder on the topic.

If the states of Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland were to merge in such an integration as some desire, it would command a gross domestic product of US$1.60 trillion, making it the twelfth largest economy in the world, larger than that of Australia, Spain, Mexico, or South Korea.